Jack Napier

"Jack? Jack is dead, my friend. You can call me... Joker. And as you can see... I'm a lot happier."

- The Joker

Jack Napier, also known as The Joker, is a fictional mobster and the main antagonist from the 1989 superhero fantasy film Batman. He was played by actor Jack Nicholson. Jack Napier is based on a comic book character created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane for DC Comics. 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
Jack Napier was a high-ranking member of the Gotham City underworld, and worked as the "number one guy" for Boss Carl Grissom. Jack was romantically involved with Grissom's girlfriend, Alicia Hunt, which ultimately proved to be Jack's undoing. Grissom found out about the affair, and sent Jack on a job to clean out Axis Chemicals before the Gotham City Police Department could raid the facility. It was Grissom's intent that Jack would die during a firefight with the GCPD. At the facility, Jack Napier encountered a masked vigilante who called himself Batman. Jack tried to kill Batman, but a ricochetting bullet sliced across his face, causing him to tumble into a vat of toxic chemicals. Jack was flushed out through the Axis drainage system and emerged in Gotham River. He found that the chemicals had turned his hair green, the skin on his face white, and his lips dark red. It also made him go irrevocably insane. Calling himself the Joker, Jack set out to avenge himself against both Carl Grissom and the Batman.

The Joker caused widespread chaos throughout Gotham City, committing mass murder by contaminating household products with his deadly Smilex, which caused his victims to literally laugh themselves to death. His scheme kicked into high gear, when he had multiple hot-air parade balloons poised to release Smilex upon the entire city. Batman foiled this plot by using his Batwing to clip the lines on the balloons, so the Joker shot down the Batwing. He then kidnapped reporter Vicki Vale and took her to the crumbling Gotham cathedral. Batman pursued them for their final throw-down, which resulted in the Joker falling from the top of the cathedral to his doom.

Notes & Trivia

 * The Joker was created by director Tim Burton and screenwriter Sam Hamm based on concepts originally developed by Bill Finger and Bob Kane for DC Comics.


 * This is the first time that Joker has ever been given a proper name and a complete origin. In the comics, the Joker's true identity has never been revealed, and his origin is a matter of speculation. As the Joker himself once put it, when it comes to secret origins, he prefer they be multiple choice.


 * Joker characters in film seem to come upon a particular catch phrase. Jack Napier's trademark line was, "Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?" The 2005 iteration of the Joker from The Dark Knight is known for intoning the phrase, "Why so serious?", which coincidentally enough, is also posed in the form of a question.


 * Jack Nicholson is the first actor to portray the Joker in a major feature film. He was previously played by actor Cesar Romero in 1966's Batman: The Movie, which served as a backdoor pilot to the Batman television series.


 * Other actors who have played the Joker in film include Heath Ledger in Christopher Nolan's 2008 film The Dark Knight and Jared Leto in 2016's Suicide Squad. Legendary Star Wars actor Mark Hamill provided the voice for the Joker on Batman: The Animated Series and its various spin-off projects and direct-to-video animated film sequels.