Have you ever thought about the psychology of what makes Batman’s villains so good compared to others? Let’s dive into what makes the Joker so unique!
How It Started For Joker
In the Spring of 1940, the Joker appeared in Bat Man #1. We know that he is Batman’s archnemesis but also a criminal mastermind. A few of us don’t realize he was meant to be a one-issue villain.
However, due to his popularity, the villain with a devious sense of humour continues his journey in the Batman comic book. Despite his popularity, reinvented as a harmless villain, the Joker fell into the abyss until the 70s.
The Origin of the New Joker
The Joker is responsible for many tragedies in Batman’s life. He also became a nightmare for those around him. The Joker paralyzed Barbara Gordon, tortured and killed Jason Todd, physically and mentally abused Harley Quinn, constantly threatened Alfred Pennywise and more.
The Joker evolved from a prankster to the most dangerous fictional supervillain on many lists. He is now a criminal whose IQ is so high that he is self-aware, meaning he knows he is in a comic book.
The Joker is often extreme in his approach to getting Batman’s attention. In the New 52 era, Dollmaker cut the Joker’s face off so he could disappear and create the eventful storyline of Death of the Family.
The Joker is one of the most recognizable supervillains in history. He might not possess superpowers, yet he can destroy Superman if he wants to do it. In Injustice, issue #1, the Joker killed a pregnant Lois Lane without remorse. So, with that in mind, what else can we find about the iconic Joker?
The Origin of the Prince of Crime, The Joker
Nobody knew the Joker’s name until 2022. I hoped we’d never come to know because that would destroy the character. Many people see the name as a red herring. The name is Jack Napier, but his story isn’t set in stone.
The Killing Joke is a classic of all comic book genres. In that storyline, we have a glimpse into the Joker’s life. We learn that it only took one bad day to create the legend, which is the Joker.
In the Harley Quinn adult cartoon series, the Joker goes through events that bring him to a new chapter in his life. We see him as a regular ‘Joe’ bartender with a family and stepchildren. Maybe a ‘what if there was no bad day’ that happened.
We all agree that not knowing who the Joker is remains the best choice to keep the character at its best. Writers might rewrite him repeatedly, which makes him such a good supervillain.
What We Know Of The Joker
With the storyline of Zero Year, we know that the Joker was a failed stand-up comedian. He had a wife and a life, but it was sad. He kept trying his best shot at his dream, but nobody liked his humour. That is when he turned to a criminal life.
The Joker was Red Hood One, meaning he was a leader and part of a criminal gang acting for higher criminal masterminds. After all, it isn’t a secret that Batman helped create the Joker when he fell into a large container of various chemicals.
The Red Hood Gang planned to detach themselves from the ‘big bosses’ and dare anyone to catch them. The goal was to steal flesh-eating chemicals, but Batman—in his very beginning in Gotham—found out about it. The gang knew the jig was up but proceeded, and the rest was history.
This storyline has its base in Batman Zero Year to create a foundation for the Joker character.
The Joker Of The Television Series Gotham
The Joker receives an exciting twist to his story in the television series. The character couldn’t officially be called Joker due to copyright. However, the series found a way around it so the iconic supervillain could see the light of day. In the universe of Gotham, a loose woman from Haley’s Circus gave birth to twin brothers Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska.
“We’re bound together, he and I. The one thing I knew for certain, the one thing I knew was true.”
— Jeremiah Valeska, Gotham
While Jerome grew up to become mad and create a character for himself, turning him into a cult leader, his brother had a different path. Jeremiah lived in an underground sort of panic house maze. One of his security people is a woman. Despite not mentioning her as Harley Quinn, it is the most common assumption.
Jerome eventually dies, but not before he creates the laugh toxin the Joker is known for, intoxicating his brother into becoming a cult leader. Jeremiah was a genius young man who became the most skillful engineer and scientist. His life differed from his brother’s as he moved away from the circus, but his fate remained the same.
He even changed his name to Xander Wilde, but it didn’t matter. Jeremiah had a mental illness shared with his brother. He had an obsessive mind as he grew immensely attached to Bruce Wayne before becoming the Joker.
A Possible Schizotypal Personality Disorder
Schizotypal personality disorder, otherwise called STPD, isolates those who suffer from it. Those under the condition often display behaviour others see as strange, peculiar and eccentric. It shows in the choice of words, clothing, belief, and next to no relationships.
Because it affects the process of thinking and general behaviour, STPD qualifies as a personality disorder. The diagnosis of personality disorders is separated into three broad clusters: A, B, and C. STPD is part of Cluster A. They often suffer from excessive social anxiety. The range in population goes from 0.6% to 4.6%.
STPD is not Schizophrenia, though it is often mistaken for it. STPD people do not have psychotic experiences. While they aren’t emotionally detached from people, they present unusual behaviours.
STPD people have distorted thoughts and perceptions and peculiar forms of self-expression. They can have anxiety and paranoia in social situations. They cannot form close relationships. They can even believe in superstitions or telepathy.
Pushing Further Into The Triarchic Model
Regarding The Joker’s mental state focused on APD – Antisocial Personality Disorder, he checks all three boxes of the triarchic model — Disinhibition, Meanness, and Boldness. But he checks the boxes in the form of a dangerous individual with high levels of harm to others and himself.
The Joker has intense fear and high stress tolerance. He doesn’t care about unfamiliar territory or danger due to his self-confidence and assertiveness. He doesn’t mind hurting others, or himself for that matter. However, The Joker has mediocre impulse control and foresight. He demands gratifications, and that comes with poor behavioural restraints.
Now, his lack of empathy is beyond repair. He has no close attachments and exploits others to his benefit without remorse. He defies authority consistently, possibly for orgasmic results or destructive excitement.
The Joker does use cruelty to gain empowerment regardless of the outcome. So, he does have boldness, disinhibition, and meanness.
Just Keep On Laughing! It’s Another Bad Day!
The Joker is a villain who laughs at any occasion he gets. It is, after all, one of his many trademarks. It is almost inconceivable to believe someone could laugh when beaten virtually to death. It is even less believable when they are looking at lifetime incarceration.
However, the Joker always finds a way to make his day brighter and laughs at anything threatening coming his way, but not so fast. The Joker’s incontrollable laugh is, in fact, a genuine illness and wraps up all his behaviours and diseases with a nice little bow.
The Pseudobulbar Affect, The Joker Suffers From
The PBA is also a synonym for emotional incontinence. This illness has the patient in uncontrollable extreme reactions such as laughter and hysterical crying. It is an emotional disturbance.
PBA is often a result of a secondary neurologic disorder or, in some cases, brain injury. When it occurs, the patient cannot control their emotion. Either it is crying or laughing. They are incapable of gaining control over their emotional reaction. Often, a patient can laugh when in distress or angry. It means they can have fits of laughter.
It can be an effect linked to personality disorder but not such liability disorder. Due to outbursts of extreme and opposite reactions without stimulus, patients with PBA can become antisocial, leading to refusing relationships of any kind or attachment.
The pathophysiology is, to this day, investigated. It is still controversial. Some believe it is the corticobulbar pathways managing emotion and expression. The theory is that bilateral lesions descending to the corticobulbar tract cause failure in controlling emotions.
But the most fascinating one remains traumatic brain injury. PBA is most likely a result of the disruption of neural networks. PBA is directly linked to neurological disease.
What Does This Mean For The Joker?
Well, he had head trauma when facing Batman before falling into the chemical compound. Who knows what he ingested and how it affected his brain? For that reason, I believe he does suffer from pseudobulbar affect.
When fighting Batman or other people, the Joker laughs, which indicates his reaction doesn’t fit the action. It fits quite well if we add the pseudobulbar effect to other mental illnesses. Multiple head injuries can lead someone to have a brain defect.
In other words, PBA is a condition that confirms the Joker’s inability to control his inappropriate laughter. The disorder is directly linked to people with neurological conditions or injuries. It affects how his brain controls emotions.
My Psychologically Enthusiast Unprofessional Diagnosis
Because I am no doctor, merely a psychology enthusiast, my less-than-professional opinion about the Joker is this:
The Joker is a rare case due to multiple physical traumas to his body, especially the cranial area. His crimes are hellish and evil, but is the Joker aware of his wrongdoing? While he understands right from wrong, he also sees it as a relative and societal concept. He doesn’t care to understand how society works.
Therefore, I believe a collaboration between Arkham Asylum and Black Gate Penitentiary should be in place. The Joker is not someone who can be rehabilitated. The neurological damage is too profound, and the chemistry in his brain might just not be there. How? Some, if not most, of those who check all the boxes of the triarchic model, are born without the capacity to understand the need for right and wrong.
However, it doesn’t mean we can’t try to study him. People suffering from the triarchic model and antisocial personality disorder are naturally narcissistic. They are master manipulators and can lie without remorse, so choose your staff accordingly and wisely.
IVY WAYNE 