Supervillain Origins: The Joker

Super Villains: The Joker

The Joker may be Batman’s most famous nemesis, however few people can actually piece together the past of this criminal mastermind. Hey, welcome to watchmojo, I’m your host Derek Allen and today we will attempt to unearth the background of this comic book mad man.

As there is no official history for the Joker, we have decided to follow the most widely believed account from the comic book Batman: the Killing Joke published in 1988.

The Joker’s background is so clouded, that it seems to remain a mystery even to himself. The Joker himself once even admitted "Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another...If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!”

The Killing Joke introduces the Joker as a one-time engineer who worked for a chemical company. Nameless in the comic book, we learn that the engineer quit his job to pursue a stand-up comedy career. After failing miserably at comedy and with a pregnant wife at home, the unnamed man agreed to help two criminals break into his old chemical plant when he is promised money for his family. After learning that his wife had been killed in an accident, the engineer attempted to withdraw from the plan only to be pressured forward by the criminals.

There have been many ties between the Joker’s past and an infamous recurring criminal in the DC Universe named The Red Hood. In The Killing Joke, the two criminals force the engineer to wear the infamous red mask, as a way to implicate him as the leader of the crime group.

At the chemical plant, the two criminals are gunned down and the engineer is confronted by Batman. In an attempt to escape, the engineer jumps into a vat of toxic waste. After being swept through a pipe and out of the plant, the engineer discovers his skin has been permanently beached chalk-white, his lips have been stained red and his hair has been dyed green.

The events of that day are enough to drive the engineer insane and turn him into Batman’s greatest enemy, the Joker; a sociopathic criminal whose sole reason for causing havoc on Gotham City often seems to be simply to entertain himself.

Some of The Joker’s most famous weapons include lethal handshake buzzers and poisonous laughing gas, while his image is characterized by a sadistic sense of humor and an extreme disregard for all of society and its rules.