Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down little-known facts about the criminal clown from across all forms of media.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down little-known facts about the criminal
00:08clown from across all forms of media.
00:13There's very few things Joker is genuinely afraid of, and more often than not, he's
00:26the one doing the scaring.
00:27So it might be a surprise to learn that he's deathly afraid of the IRS.
00:32At least the DCAU version of him, that is.
00:34When he hits it rich, his sudden fortune comes with a cost, namely taxes.
00:42Sure, he's an agent of chaos and possibly the face of true evil, but he's also someone
00:50just trying to finish up his W2s.
00:53It might be a silly fear for Joker to have, but hey, at least it's relatable.
00:57Those IRS agents can be the stuff of nightmares.
01:05He put a deposit down on an electric car, Harley Quinn.
01:14Though Joker has driven his own Joker-mobile on occasion, it seems that he's interested
01:18in some alternatives too.
01:20When he learns the secret identity of Batman, he uses the information to launch into a rant
01:24about WayneTech and how he never got what he was promised.
01:35The hilarious tidbit kind of makes us want to take the Joker's side with this one.
01:38I mean, if you really think about it, Bruce's company kind of robbed him.
01:42In fact, they robbed all of us.
01:43Now we'll probably never get to see the Joker driving around in the Wayne equivalent
01:47of a Tesla Model S. Joker may be a crook, but a gigantic tech company not delivering
01:51what they promised is also super evil.
02:01The Joker is an all-time classic supervillain name that's instantly recognisable, but
02:05what if we told you it's an alias that the clown prince of crime didn't come up with?
02:10In the comic, Batman The Man Who Laughs, it's revealed that the name was possibly coined
02:14by Gotham's police, and later, the press ran with it.
02:17Given it's a pretty sweet name, we're not surprised that he liked it so much.
02:21It's a good thing, too, because imagine if he took on a lame name like Captain Clown
02:25or Joke Man.
02:26Names really don't have the same ring to them.
02:29He created Clayface the Batman We'll preface by saying that Joker created
02:38a specific version of the Clayface character, but still, an iconic villain creating another
02:43iconic villain is some serious villain-ception.
02:46When Joker captured GCPD detective Ethan Bennett, he subjects him to severe psychological torment.
02:59Upon his rescue, the Joker's signature Joker Putty formula accidentally comes into contact
03:04with Ethan.
03:05When you add that to his already weakened mental state, the tragic Clayface is born.
03:09This cartoon was well-known for the radical departures it took from the larger mythos.
03:14And in cases like these, those risks helped make Joker that much more interesting.
03:28Did you know that Joker has a son?
03:30Well, maybe.
03:31When Lonnie Macon, aka Anarchy, made his way onto the scene, he tried bringing down Gotham's
03:36elites.
03:37But along the way, he got sidetracked, and in issue 8 of his limited series, he tracked
03:41down his biological mother.
03:43His mum then seemingly revealed that Lonnie's father was the Joker.
03:47The comic's writer, Alan Grant, meant to reveal that this was actually all a lie in
03:51later instalments.
03:52However, the book was cancelled before he could even get there.
03:55So, in a way, Joker being Anarchy's father could be true.
03:59But even if it's canon, it's not a plot point that's been revisited.
04:03Still, Joker being a dad is something truly insane.
04:07Whether you loved or hated it, the Joker movie was iconic, and as it turns out, some
04:20of the places he visited quickly became iconic too.
04:23The infamous scene where Arthur Fleck dances wildly down a set of stairs while firmly embracing
04:27his Joker persona has garnered a lot of attention.
04:30As such, the so-called Joker Stairs have since gotten a ton of visitors.
04:39In fact, when you looked up the stairs on Google Maps, they were listed as a religious
04:43destination.
04:44While Google might not label them that way anymore, it's pretty astonishing that they
04:48did at one point.
04:49Have you ever worshipped at the shrine of the Joker?
04:56He ate all of China, Superman, Emperor Joker.
04:59You might have a wild appetite, but we're guessing you've never eaten an entire country
05:03before.
05:04But you know who did?
05:05Yep, Joker, when he became Emperor Joker.
05:08This happened after he tricked a fifth-dimensional being, Mixia Spitlik, into giving him god-like
05:13powers.
05:14He did all kinds of crazy things with it, like killing Batman repeatedly and remaking
05:17the world in his image.
05:19But what really takes the cake is when he gulped down China.
05:23Because sure, why not?
05:24He was probably just really hungry.
05:26It's actually insane how messed up this was.
05:28He didn't just kill off an entire population, he did it with giant-sized chopsticks too.
05:33Only the Joker can make mass extinction part of a balanced diet.
05:41Bruce Wayne's mum is the Joker in the Flashpoint timeline, Flashpoint Batman Knight of Vengeance.
05:49When Barry Allen monumentally screws up the timeline, it leads to the dark reality known
05:53as Flashpoint.
05:54And in a world as grim as this, things are bound to be wonky.
05:58One of the biggest surprises happens to involve the Batman mythos.
06:01You might already know that Flashpoint Batman ends up being Thomas Wayne.
06:05But did you know that Flashpoint Joker is Martha Wayne?
06:08Talk about one wacky family tree.
06:17Joker and Batman have always been intrinsically linked together, but adding a familial twist
06:21like this makes their dynamics so much more intriguing.
06:24It's also a disturbing look at how tragic Martha Wayne's life would be if she lived
06:28instead of Bruce.
06:42When you've had as many adaptations as the Joker has, there's bound to be some more
06:45experimental takes on the classic supervillain.
06:47In Gotham, for instance, he isn't exactly a one-man show.
06:51As a matter of fact, he's actually two brothers.
07:02The Valeska twins, Jerome and Jeremiah, each terrorise Gotham in their own unique ways.
07:07Jerome is the cartoonishly psychotic brother always looking to spread chaos, but on the
07:12other side of the coin is Jeremiah, the eerily calm brother with a method behind his madness.
07:17Each of these proto-versions represents different, yeah, equally important facets of the clown
07:22in haunting ways.
07:30When people say they want a comic, accurate adaptation of Death in the Family, we're
07:35really curious if they want to see this specific plot point added too.
07:38It sounds like something out of a fever dream, but trust us when we say it happened.
07:43Appointed by Ayatollah Khomeini himself, Joker becomes the official ambassador for Iran.
07:48As such an influential political figure, he uses his power to do, well, nothing good.
07:53Joker mainly just uses his status to exploit his diplomatic immunity and further torment
07:58Batman after killing Robin.
07:59We don't want to get all political, but I'm sure we can all agree that an Ayatollah
08:03putting the Joker into power isn't very bright.
08:07He had his own face cut off, Detective Comics' Faces of Death.
08:14Ah, the New 52.
08:17A time of wide-scale reboots and absolutely bonkers character choices.
08:21Wanna hear one?
08:22Well, how about the time when Joker got his own face cut off?
08:25While beefing with the Bat Family, as he normally does, he got himself thrown into Arkham so
08:29he could meet up with the Dollmaker.
08:31Once he did, the Twisted Surgeon assisted him in removing his face.
08:35Yep, that is definitely gonna leave a mark.
08:37Don't worry, he got his face back, but let's just say the results weren't pretty.
08:41While his motives were somewhat unclear, this extreme act of bodily harm showed that this
08:45newer iteration of Joker was far more psychotic than before.
08:52The multiverse can be a worn-down vehicle for excessive cameos, but when done right,
09:04it can also introduce unique concepts.
09:07Just look at the Crisis on Two Earths movie.
09:09In it, audiences are introduced to the Jester.
09:11He's a heroic version of the Joker from Earth-3, where our usual heroes are actually
09:15the villains and vice versa.
09:25While these alternate reality versions of Joker are rare, there's more than you think.
09:29There's also the comic, White Knight, which sees Jack Napier's Joker get cured and then
09:34wage a one-man legal war against a more brutal Batman.
09:37Though Jester's not in this movie much, sadly, he's an exciting look at what Joker
09:41could be if he wanted to become a hero.
09:47He was visually inspired by a German Expressionist film, The Man Who Laughs.
09:56There are a lot of things that go into the design of the Joker.
09:59His devilish personality, flamboyant outfits, sinister intentions, and of course, his devious
10:04physical appearance.
10:05And when it comes to his looks, a lot of inspiration came from silent film star Conrad Veidt.
10:11More specifically, Veidt's portrayal of Gwynplaine, from the appropriately named,
10:15The Man Who Laughs.
10:21When you compare the two, Joker is the spitting image of Veidt.
10:25Look no further than his wickedly unnerving smile, sharp facial features, and ghastly
10:29skin for an uncanny resemblance.
10:31Gwynplaine's face is so striking, it's no wonder they based so much of Joker's
10:35design off him.
10:36Without Conrad Veidt, who knows how Joker would have looked.
10:49Prepare to dive deep into the Jokerverse for this one.
10:52In issue 134 of Chip Zdarsky's Batman run, readers learn of Darwin Halliday, aka Red
10:57Mask.
10:59He might seem like another generic Batman villain at first, but he's actually far
11:02from it.
11:03When caught in an explosion inside of a lab, the incident causes this billionaire to learn
11:07that he's a multiversal variant of the Joker.
11:11News like that can unravel a person, but Darwin takes the information in stride.
11:15In later issues, he starts going bonkers around the multiverse trying to create more Jokers.
11:19Even though Batman labels Darwin as the sane Joker, it's clear that he's got some issues.
11:28It's no secret that the New 52 took many creative liberties with the Joker, but cutting
11:32his face off wasn't the only hard left turn that esteemed comic writer Scott Snyder took
11:37with the character.
11:38During Endgame, the Batfamily finds evidence to suggest that Joker might be more than just
11:43a crazy clown.
11:44In fact, he may actually be the Pale Man, a fabled immortal who plagued Gotham for eons.
11:50The theory was widely considered to simply be a ruse, however, giving Joker unexpected
11:54mythical origins is a super fun concept to play around with.
11:58Who knows, maybe that idea will be revisited one day.
12:09Jokers had lots of names – Jack Napier, Joseph Kerr, Arthur Fleck, John Doe, Jerome
12:14and Jeremiah Valeska, etc etc – but his true name, unless they change it later, was
12:19finally revealed in Flashpoint Beyond.
12:22As we return to the Flashpoint universe, Martha Wayne Joker explains to Thomas Wayne Batman
12:26that the Joker of the Main Earth is a man named Jack Oswald White.
12:31Funnily enough, Jack White is also the name of a prominent singer.
12:38Besides that, it's not a particularly noteworthy name, but getting Joker's identity is still
12:42pretty huge.
12:43It's also interesting how Joker's middle name is the same as Penguin's first.
12:47I mean, that'd be a fun conversation to have by the water cooler at the next Gotham
12:50Rogues meet-up.
12:51Usually, we assume that Joker is insane, but maybe that diagnosis isn't accurate.
13:04In Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum graphic novel, the writer proposes that he has super
13:09sanity.
13:10Basically, he's sane.
13:11So sane that he's got complete mastery over his state of mind, meaning he can adapt his
13:15personality to fit any situation.
13:18He's like a social chameleon, which in theory makes him great for parties, but we still
13:22wouldn't recommend inviting him.
13:24Since he has such a high level of sanity, he just looks insane to us, since he functions
13:28on a level we can't possibly comprehend.
13:31He may even be aware that he's a fictional character, and we don't need to explain
13:34how a fourth-wall-breaking, super-sane Joker would be an absolute nightmare.
13:45Harley is easily the most famous of Joker's accomplices, but she wasn't actually his
13:52first.
13:53Back in the Golden Age, that was Gaggy.
13:55Gagsworth, a Gagsworthy, was a circus performer who turned to villainy after being replaced
13:59by the Flying Graysons.
14:00Since he kind of looks like a demented court jester, he and Mr J became a perfect pairing.
14:06While Joker and Harley had a toxic relationship, Joker and Gaggy's partnership proved to
14:10be plentiful.
14:11They were practically best buds.
14:13And since Joker was a light-hearted prankster during this era, the two found joy in putting
14:17Batman through the wringer with their mischief.
14:20In some ways, Gaggy brought out Joker's more fun, less murderous side, that we don't
14:25see much of anymore.
14:34Shortly after killing several aggressive Wayne Investments employees, Arthur flees into a
14:38nearby bathroom.
14:40It's a moment where emotions run high, and how does he respond?
14:43By slowly breaking out into a hypnotic dance.
14:56Actor Joaquin Phoenix actually went off-script in this scene.
14:59While it's not what director Todd Phillips initially planned, the sequence was stunning
15:02enough to survive in the movie's final cut, and for good reason.
15:06It's a captivating, even slightly unsettling look at how this broken man begins slipping
15:11into madness.
15:13It's atmospheric, it's weird, and it's undeniably Joker.
15:36For one of the greatest supervillains to have ever been created, the most shocking
15:56thing about him is that he was supposed to die in his very first appearance.
16:00The Clown Prince of Crime is a cash cow, but if Batman Number One went as planned, he would've
16:04just been cannon fodder.
16:06The Batman creators initially thought that Joker constantly bouncing back to get the
16:10better of the Dark Knight would make him look weak, so they planned to write the clown off.
16:17Thankfully though, editor Whitney Ellsworth stepped in to ensure his survival.
16:20He saw the vision, and that vision led to serious success.
16:24With legendary appearances in award-winning comics, shows and movies, Joker might never
16:28have gotten there without Whitney's quick thinking.
16:35So is there a piece of Joker lore we missed?
16:38School us in the comments.