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The Joker
Real Name: Unknown. Known Aliases: Jack Napier, Joe Kerr, Oberion Saxton, countless others.
Team Associations: Injustice Gang/Guild/Legion of Doom/Whatever Luthor's Calling It, Gotham Rogues, Secret Society
Origin and Motivations: Once upon a time a hitman for the mob crossed the wrong woman and no,
Once upon a time the right hand man of a gangster was betrayed and no
Once upon a time a file clerk tried to make some money on the side and no
Once upon a time a failed comedian was coerced into a tight red suit and NO.
Once upon a time some idiot in a fursuit knocked the next great comic voice of our times into a vat of acid and just sort of left him to dissolve, because manslaughter isn't a crime. Funny, huh?
Joker considers himself an artist, and his art of choice is crime. Like most artists, Joker wants enough money and power to live comfortably. In his mind 'live comfortably' means to do whatever he wants to whomever he wants whenever he wants. In other words, Joker generally has two kinds of crime;
Money crimes, which are done for profit in order to keep his supply of cash, gadgets and henchmen flush. Stealing diamonds, shaking down shops, assassinating politicians, murdering rival gangs, doing work for other super-criminals.
Art crimes, the fun stuff where he's trying to prove a point or just push the art of the crime to a new height. Defacing cultural icons, gaslightng bastions of order, making fish smile, killing Batman.
He'd never say it like that, out loud at least, just like he'd never let on how organized and well planned his endeavors are under the layers of obfuscating lunacy and seemingly random happenstance. And he mixes motivations freely, but the point is that Joker has work and he has play and he needs to work in order to play.
He also has an ego and will often work with other super-criminals solely because he was invited-and interfere in their plans because he was not. Also important: Joker kills people because its funny. Sometimes he doesn't kill people because its funny. The point is to be unpredictable and if he murders everyone he talks to its pretty damn predictable; he also is a competent enough criminal to realize if he kills everyone he talks to eventually Penguin or Bane or someone will decide to put a bullet through his brain, and while he has plans for such an event they're not fool proof.
Methodology: Joker, like Batman, tends to be as high-tech as the story demands. Sometimes he's a goon in a clown suit using a store bought sniper rifle and homemade bombs and sometimes he's got his own submarine shaped like his face and super drugs he cooked up in a lab beneath the city. This is part of the reason he's such a useful character; he, again like Batman, is infinitely flexible and can find a place in any “tier” of DC story.
But he does have certain preferences. Playing cards, disguises, disposable henchmen, chemicals, drugs, poison, gag gadgets, and deceptions referencing classic comedy bits. He's got an old fashioned taste in comedy, preferring vaudeville above all else though he'll dip into the Bob Newhart era once in a while. Explosives and clever traps that seem random but are carefully planned to give him an avenue of escape. This is important to the RP because this is generally how Joker avoids being in Arkham every other scene.
Superpowers wise, Joker's exhibited two in the comics. He's had a limited resistance to telepathy because of his “super-madness”, mostly in Morrison books, and he's been highly resistant to drugs and toxins of all types. The latter I'm keeping because its been a fairly consistent Joker power and helps explain why he's so damn hard to keep in jail. Laughing off J'onn's telepathy seems a bit much but I don't want to completely discount the idea on the off chance we come up with a really cool idea.
Relationships: Joker would be the first person to tell you he's above relationships with rubes and people who aren't him. He's also a notorious liar.
Batman: Joker is obsessed with Batman. He likes foiling superheroes and doing evil but with Batman, specifically Bruce Wayne's Batman, its SPECIAL; one of the more interesting Joker moments is, I think, when he recognizes Dick Grayson's taken up the cowl he basically backs off after one last plot and sort of makes way for Deathstroke to take over arching duties. There have been a lot of comic books about why but ultimately it comes down to Joker not just wanting Batman dead; he wants Batman's death to be his masterpiece, the ultimate joke. Batman can't just die, he has to die in such a way that makes the very idea of Batman break forever! Usually.
Harley Quinn: There's a complicated one. I'm keeping it loose in case we get a Harley player, but basically I like the, “Joker has accidentally grown kind of fond of the girl which if anything makes their relationship even more screwed up.”
Gotham Rogues: A collection of maniacs and madmen, the Gotham crowd are a bit more tolerant of Joker's bullshit than most super-criminals. Sometimes you just lose it a little and have to lock a collaborator in a themed deathtrap and that doesn't mean you can't do business once tempers cool in a few weeks. Joker isn't quite sure what to make of the new generation of villains from the Club of Villains crowd and other sources; he's a bit flattered and a bit irritated by their hero worship, but by God some of these kids have potential.
Luthor and Cheetah: I'd kind of dig an inverted trinity but I dunno if they'd be interested, it depends on their takes on the character. Joker's biggest weakness is his ego and he takes a certain pride in being a world-class Gotham rogue.
Real Name: Unknown. Known Aliases: Jack Napier, Joe Kerr, Oberion Saxton, countless others.
Team Associations: Injustice Gang/Guild/Legion of Doom/Whatever Luthor's Calling It, Gotham Rogues, Secret Society
Origin and Motivations: Once upon a time a hitman for the mob crossed the wrong woman and no,
Once upon a time the right hand man of a gangster was betrayed and no
Once upon a time a file clerk tried to make some money on the side and no
Once upon a time a failed comedian was coerced into a tight red suit and NO.
Once upon a time some idiot in a fursuit knocked the next great comic voice of our times into a vat of acid and just sort of left him to dissolve, because manslaughter isn't a crime. Funny, huh?
Joker considers himself an artist, and his art of choice is crime. Like most artists, Joker wants enough money and power to live comfortably. In his mind 'live comfortably' means to do whatever he wants to whomever he wants whenever he wants. In other words, Joker generally has two kinds of crime;
Money crimes, which are done for profit in order to keep his supply of cash, gadgets and henchmen flush. Stealing diamonds, shaking down shops, assassinating politicians, murdering rival gangs, doing work for other super-criminals.
Art crimes, the fun stuff where he's trying to prove a point or just push the art of the crime to a new height. Defacing cultural icons, gaslightng bastions of order, making fish smile, killing Batman.
He'd never say it like that, out loud at least, just like he'd never let on how organized and well planned his endeavors are under the layers of obfuscating lunacy and seemingly random happenstance. And he mixes motivations freely, but the point is that Joker has work and he has play and he needs to work in order to play.
He also has an ego and will often work with other super-criminals solely because he was invited-and interfere in their plans because he was not. Also important: Joker kills people because its funny. Sometimes he doesn't kill people because its funny. The point is to be unpredictable and if he murders everyone he talks to its pretty damn predictable; he also is a competent enough criminal to realize if he kills everyone he talks to eventually Penguin or Bane or someone will decide to put a bullet through his brain, and while he has plans for such an event they're not fool proof.
Methodology: Joker, like Batman, tends to be as high-tech as the story demands. Sometimes he's a goon in a clown suit using a store bought sniper rifle and homemade bombs and sometimes he's got his own submarine shaped like his face and super drugs he cooked up in a lab beneath the city. This is part of the reason he's such a useful character; he, again like Batman, is infinitely flexible and can find a place in any “tier” of DC story.
But he does have certain preferences. Playing cards, disguises, disposable henchmen, chemicals, drugs, poison, gag gadgets, and deceptions referencing classic comedy bits. He's got an old fashioned taste in comedy, preferring vaudeville above all else though he'll dip into the Bob Newhart era once in a while. Explosives and clever traps that seem random but are carefully planned to give him an avenue of escape. This is important to the RP because this is generally how Joker avoids being in Arkham every other scene.
Superpowers wise, Joker's exhibited two in the comics. He's had a limited resistance to telepathy because of his “super-madness”, mostly in Morrison books, and he's been highly resistant to drugs and toxins of all types. The latter I'm keeping because its been a fairly consistent Joker power and helps explain why he's so damn hard to keep in jail. Laughing off J'onn's telepathy seems a bit much but I don't want to completely discount the idea on the off chance we come up with a really cool idea.
Relationships: Joker would be the first person to tell you he's above relationships with rubes and people who aren't him. He's also a notorious liar.
Batman: Joker is obsessed with Batman. He likes foiling superheroes and doing evil but with Batman, specifically Bruce Wayne's Batman, its SPECIAL; one of the more interesting Joker moments is, I think, when he recognizes Dick Grayson's taken up the cowl he basically backs off after one last plot and sort of makes way for Deathstroke to take over arching duties. There have been a lot of comic books about why but ultimately it comes down to Joker not just wanting Batman dead; he wants Batman's death to be his masterpiece, the ultimate joke. Batman can't just die, he has to die in such a way that makes the very idea of Batman break forever! Usually.
Harley Quinn: There's a complicated one. I'm keeping it loose in case we get a Harley player, but basically I like the, “Joker has accidentally grown kind of fond of the girl which if anything makes their relationship even more screwed up.”
Gotham Rogues: A collection of maniacs and madmen, the Gotham crowd are a bit more tolerant of Joker's bullshit than most super-criminals. Sometimes you just lose it a little and have to lock a collaborator in a themed deathtrap and that doesn't mean you can't do business once tempers cool in a few weeks. Joker isn't quite sure what to make of the new generation of villains from the Club of Villains crowd and other sources; he's a bit flattered and a bit irritated by their hero worship, but by God some of these kids have potential.
Luthor and Cheetah: I'd kind of dig an inverted trinity but I dunno if they'd be interested, it depends on their takes on the character. Joker's biggest weakness is his ego and he takes a certain pride in being a world-class Gotham rogue.
