Joker/DKT

The Joker, whose face is chalk white with red-stained lips and green hair due to a chemical accident, is the arch-nemesis of the caped crusader known as Batman. First introduced in Batman #1 back in 1940, he has been a mainstay villain for decades, appearing in nearly every media iteration of the franchise.

Overview
A more macabre incarnation of the Joker was presented in the 2008 film The Dark Knight, where the Joker was played by the late actor Heath Ledger. Unlike Batman, this version of the Joker was not given a proper name, and his origin was only hinted at, mostly through the Joker's own account, which changed dramatically with each retelling. This Joker was more clown-like in that he actually wore make-up, rather than having his features disfigured due to an accident. The Joker caused quite a stir when he mounted his own two-pronged large-scale attack against Gotham City's organized crime cartels as well as members of the Gotham City Police Department. He was ultimately captured by Batman and taken to a mental hospital.

Biography
The man who calls himself the Joker was a crazed criminal whose true name and origin are unknown, though he likes to tease people with possible allusions to his history. While describing his early life to a Nigerian gangster named Gambol, the Joker said that he suffered under an abusive father, who drank a lot and sliced his face open with a knife while repeatedly intoning the phrase, "Why so serious?" Later, however, he gave assistant D.A. Rachel Dawes an altogether different account of his origin. The Joker enjoyed creating carnage both within Gotham's underworld community and the city's infrastructure. He robbed a bank, stealing funds that belonged to leading members of the city's criminal empire, thus drawing out the Batman to come and face him. He set members of Sal Maroni's gang against each other, but also challenged them to find and destroy the Batman. He openly threatened to kill someone every day unless Batman revealed his true identity. He murdered police commissioner Gillian Loeb, and raided a fundraiser for District Attorney Harvey Dent. Through the course of this event, he kidnapped Rachel Dawes, ultimately killing her, and mutilated Dent, which caused him to go insane. He tested the intestinal fiber of Gotham's populace by threatening to destroy two ferries filled with people (one populated by criminals) unless they agreed to destroy one another.

Batman asked the Joker if he was trying to prove that everyone was as ugly as he, bluntly informing him that he was alone in his corruption and insanity. Before he could detonate both ferries, Batman hit him with his shooting wrist-blades and threw him over the edge of a building. The Joker started to laugh as he readied himself for death, but Batman, refusing to kill him, instead caught him with his grapple gun and left him hanging for the police to take into custody.

Notes & Trivia



 * The Dark Knight is the final film for actor Heath Ledger, who passed away on January 22nd, 2008 from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. All of Ledger's scenes from the movie had already been filmed however.


 * The Joker is also the name of a playing card found in most modern card decks, as an addition to the standard four suits, hearts, spades, clubs and diamonds. In many card games such as Poker, the Joker may be played as an optional wild card, meaning that it may have any value depending upon the discretion of the player.