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Joker 1989
Jack Napier
Background information
Feature films Batman (1989)
Television programs
Video games
Park attractions
Actor Jack Nicholson
Actress
Animators
Voice
Performance model
Designer
Inspiration
Awards
Character information
Other names The Joker
Personality Evil, cunning, manipulative, psychopathic
Appearance (As normal) A businessman with brown eyes and a checkered shirt

(As the Joker) A pale white man with a purple dress, green hair, and a dark purple hat.

Occupation Batman's Arch-enemy
Affiliations
Goal To keep photographer Vicki Vale for himself, kill Batman and anyone who comes in his way, murder the citizens of Gotham City, become the world's first homicidal artist, and have his face on the one-dollar bill. (all failed)
Home Gotham City
Friends
Enemies Batman
Minions Bob the Goon, Alicia Hunt, Lieutenant Max Eckhardt, Black Guy, bad guys
Likes
Dislikes
Powers and abilities
Weapons Gun
Fate Falls to his death from a gargoyle hanging from his shoe
Quote
Wait 'til they get a load of me.
~ The Joker's most famous line
Tell me something, my friend - Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight? It's something I ask of all my prey. I just like the sound of it.
~ The Joker as he tries to kill Bruce Wayne


And now comes the moment when I relieve you, the little people, of the burden of your failed and useless lives. But as my plastic surgeon always said, if you gotta go, go with a smile!
~ The Joker trying to kill hundreds of people

Jack Napier, better known as the Joker, is the main antagonist of the 1989 film, Batman. and a posthimous antagonist in its 1992 sequel Batman Returns, the upcoming 2023 DC Extended Universe film The Flash and the upcoming spin-off Batgirl.

He was a mobster that fell in a pool of chimic acid that deformed his face and his mind turning him into a crazy clown-like criminal.

He was Batman and Vicki Vale's arch-nemesis.

He was portrayed by the legendary actor Jack Nicholson.

History[]

Backstory[]

Early Life[]

The Joker's real name is Jack Napier. Napier displayed antisocial behavior as a child, and was convicted of assault and grand theft auto at 15. Prison doctors noted that he was extremely intelligent, with high aptitudes in art and chemistry, but that he was prone to violent mood swings.

Murdering the Waynes[]

As a young man, Napier became a career criminal. He and his partner-in-crime mugged a young Bruce Wayne's parents, Thomas Wayne and his wife, Martha. When Thomas attempted to protect his family, Jack shot both of them in cold blood, and came out of the shadows and pointed his gun at Bruce. Before he could shoot the boy, his panicked partner urged him to leave so they could get away. Jack taunted Bruce before leaving, asking "Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?". The experience eventually motivated Bruce to fight crime as the masked vigilante Batman.

Batman (1989)[]

Working for Carl Grissom[]

Napier eventually becomes the right-hand of crime lord Carl Grissom. Napier has an affair with Grissom's girlfriend, Alicia Hunt, and works with a corrupt policeman named Lt. Max Eckhardt and his own right-hand man, Bob the Goon. Grissom eventually finds out about Napier stealing his moll, and sets him up to be killed by sending him to Axis Chemicals to recover sensitive documents, while secretly ordering Eckhardt and his men to kill him.

Birth of the Joker[]

At the plant, Napier discovers that Grissom set him up, and tries to escape. At that moment, however, Eckhardt arrives with a cadre of policemen in tow, while Commissioner James Gordon arrives with his own men to make sure Napier is taken in alive. Batman appears on the scene to capture Napier, and during the fight, Napier kills Eckhardt and shoots at the Dark Knight, who uses his steel gauntlet to deflect the bullet back into Napier's face. Reeling from the pain, Napier falls over the side of a walkway, directly over a vat of toxic chemicals. Batman tries to save Napier, but loses his grip, sending the wounded gangster plunging into the chemicals.

Napier survives, but the chemicals dye his skin chalk white, his hair green, and his lips ruby red, while a botched attempt at plastic surgery leaves him with a permanent rictus grin. Driven insane by his reflection, Napier renames himself "the Joker", kills Grissom, and becomes obsessed with "outdoing" Batman in the press.

The Crime Lord Meeting[]

In a meeting with Gotham's other crime lords, the Joker - wearing flesh-colored makeup - tells them that Grissom has left him in charge of the city, which he wants to "burn to the ground". However, one of the crime lords, Antoine Rotelli, is suspicious of the Joker, so the Joker kills him by electrocuting him with an high-voltage joy buzzer. The Joker's thugs then take the crime bosses prisoner, while the Joker tells Rotelli's charred corpse, "You are a vicious bastard, Rotelli, and I'm glad you're dead!" while laughing hysterically. He later kills crime boss Roscoe by stabbing him in the throat with a razor sharp quill pen during a press conference. Bruce Wayne sees Roscoe's murder on TV, and realizes that the Joker is in fact Jack Napier.

Reign of Terror[]

The Joker uses his advanced knowledge of chemistry to tamper with hygiene and cosmetic products, poisoning them with Smylex, a chemical of his own design that causes anyone who comes in contact with it to literally die laughing and leaves them with a grotesque rictus grin resembling his own. Smylex kills dozens of people who unwittingly use the tainted products, and the Joker hijacks the airwaves to issue a challenge to Batman: unless the Caped Crusader stops him, he will crash Gotham City's upcoming bicentennial celebration and kill as many people as he can.

Wooing Vicki Vale[]

Meanwhile, the Joker becomes obsessed with reporter Vicki Vale, and tries to woo her by killing several people in the Gotham museum and defacing several priceless works of art, while introducing himself as "the world's first fully functional homicidal artist". As he woos her, he asks her what she knows about Batman. After that, he squirts acid from the poison flower on his shirt. Vicki then splashes water on the Joker's face. Then, he turns around and reveals his pale white face, saying, "Boo!". At that moment, Batman bursts through the ceiling window to rescue Vicki, but the Joker escapes. The joker later makes another broadcast in which he promises to give away $20 million.

Surprising Bruce Wayne[]

The next day, the Joker surprises Bruce and Vicki at the latter's apartment. He kidnaps Vicki and shoots Bruce, who survives by using a metal tray as a makeshift bulletproof vest. Before shooting him, the Joker asks Bruce, "Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?", and Bruce realizes that the Joker is the mugger who killed his parents.

Parade[]

As promised, the Joker and his men crash the bicentennial parade, throwing $20 million in cash into the street from a clown-themed float. When the citizens of Gotham rush to grab up the money, the Joker releases Smylex into the air, killing scores ion people. Batman arrives on the scene in his Batwing airplane and cuts the balloons spraying the gas, rendering the float harmless. Angry, the Joker destroys the Batwing with a long-barreled pistol, sending it crashing to the ground.

Final Battle and Death[]

The Joker kidnaps Vicki and takes her to the top of Gotham Cathedral, while Batman follows him inside and defeats his minions. Batman then sneaks up on the Joker, and beats him to a pulp. During the fight, Batman punches the Joker off of the tower, but the Joker saves himself by grabbing onto the ledge, and pulls Batman and Vicki over the side. As they cling to the side, the Joker's men arrive in a helicopter and throw him down a rope ladder. As the Joker climbs up, however, Batman fires a grappling hook around his leg and attaches it to a stone gargoyle. The gargoyle breaks loose, and the Joker is pulled down by its weight until he loses his grip on the ladder and falls to his death. Commissioner Gordon finds his body, and notices a voice box issuing mechanical laughter activated by the landing.



Reception[]

Nicholson received critical acclaim for his performance; Newsweek's review of the film stated that the best scenes in the movie are due to the surreal black comedy portrayed in this character. In 2003, the American Film Institute named Nicholson's performance #45 out of 50 greatest film villains.

Gallery[]

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