Characters / The Joker Blogs

The Joker

"...You can address me as Mr. J."

"It's amazing what people believe...just because it's on the Internet."

• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Most versions of the Joker treat Harley Quinn as little more than a disposable tool for their plans, being completely and/or apathetic to their right-hand girl's romantic interst towards them. Here, Joker appears to be legitimately fond of Harley and is upset when she reveals that she's engaged.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Evil
• Kick the Dog: Shoots Mrs. Arkham in her heart right after her transplant.
• Laughably Evil
• Manipulative Bastard: This is one of the reasons why the Joker is so dangerous. He's very good at manipulating people into doing what he wants.
• Monster Clown
• No Sense of Direction: has an habit of breaking and entering in the wrong places.
• Oh, Crap!: His reaction to Batman's appearance. He calms down soon after.
• Oral Fixation: Likes to smack his lips a lot.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: While he was locked up in Arkham between Seasons 1 and 2, a group of guards liked to beat the crap out of him on a regular basis (not that he didn't deserve it). In Season 2 he's spending his time hunting them down and murdering them one by one.
• Serial Killer: Duh.
• Stalker with a Crush: "I met someone. She's going to be mine."
• Suddenly Shouting: "I guess I'm gonna have to just KILL THEM!"
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: "You do NOT get to do that!"
• Villain Protagonist: Well, the series is titled "The Joker Blogs," so...
• Villainous Friendship: With Ted the Bum, or at least as close as the Joker can be friends with anyone. It's likely Ted's happiness at the prospect of dying endears him to the Joker.
• You Are Number 6: Is referred to only as Patient 4479. He refuses to or is unable to supply his real name, and the majority of characters would rather call him 4479 than Joker.

Dr. Harleen Kopski née Quinzel

"Dr. Quinzel, overseeing Patient #4479."

• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Rather than being head-over-heels for Mr. J as per the source material, this Harley can barely stand being in the same room with Joker, seeing him as just another patient she has to treat.
• Brainy Brunette: She's a psychologist and surprisingly not blonde yet.
• Break the Cutie: A trip through the Valley of Fear finished the job Mr. J started.
• The Faceless: It's a while before we see her on camera.
• Meaningful Name: The Joker points it out — she's heard it before.
• Missing Mom: Harleen's mother abandoned her family for another man, which did a psychological number on her.
• The Shrink
• Tranquil Fury: Her demeanor after recovering from Scarecrow's fear gas.
• "Well Done, Daughter!" Gal: One of the root causes for Harleen's eventual Sanity Slippage is her obsessive need to prove to her father that she is not like her mother, who ran out with another man.
• You Look Familiar: Is played by the same actress who played Arkham's wife in season one.

Batman

• Big Damn Heroes: "Matches Malone" is a geriatric man already written off as suffering from dementia before getting a knife to the back. Later, he staggers down the hall toward three Arkham inmates... whom he casually defeats in moments before The Reveal that Matches is Batman in disguise.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Got a few offhand mentions and was the subject of an April Fools joke before appearing in person in Episode 17.
• The Dreaded: Joker has a very noticeable Oh, Crap! reaction when he shows up at the church.
• The Ghost: Was only mentioned most of the time in Season 1. Makes a physical appearence in Episode 17.
• Lights Off, Somebody Dies: The second part of his entrance in the church.
• Mythology Gag: Season 2 drops Matches Malone's name early on. Fans of the comics know exactly what to expect.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Does the "Bye" part at the end of Episode 17, after getting shot no less, does the "Hi" part in The Stinger to Episode 19, both occasions doing it to the Joker.
• Super Window Jump: The first part of his entrance in the church, if the offscreen sounds of shattering glass are to be believed.
• Walking Spoiler: Notice anything here?

Dr. Jeremiah Arkham

...

• Anti-Villain: His main motive above all else is to save his comatose wife.
• Big Bad: Shaping up to be this for Series Two.
• Beard of Sorrow: Appears to be growing one of these.
• Composite Character: The storyline involving his wife is similar to that of Mr. Freeze and Nora.
• Deadpan Snarker: Even in the face of death and danger, he's perfectly willing to match wits with Joker.
• Distressed Dude
• Face–Heel Turn
• From Nobody to Nightmare
• He Who Fights Monsters: In Season 2, to the point of recruiting Scarecrow to work for him by promising his old job and office back in return.
• Trauma Conga Line: First, Arkham is carjacked by the Joker and forced to act as an accomplice to his kidnapping of Bolton. Then he is taken to his house, tied up along with his wife, and told that a bomb will kill her at midnight unless he follows his instructions. Then, after the church incident, he escapes in the middle of shootout between the Joker and Gotham police, only to be captured again after the Joker commandeers a squad car. Then, after being forced to sell the asylum to Lex Luthor, he watches as his house blows up with his wife still inside it. She survives, but is in a vegetative state with little chance of recovery. That in a nutshell is what amounts to his Start of Darkness.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: His repeated traumas and humiliations at the hands of the Joker (sometimes played for Black Comedy) leads to him becoming one of the main villains of Season 2.

Lisa Arkham

• Damsel in Distress
• Morality Chain: Further Evidence #2 reveals that for many years she was the only thing keeping Dr. Arkham from being evil.

Dr. Jonathan Crane

• Chekhov's Gunman: In his brief cameo early in Season 1, he provides a very literal example of how the villainous masks of Gotham's criminals interfere with their ability to live a normal life, and threatens Dr. Quinzel, who was given his old office. In Season 2, Dr. Arkham recruits him by promising him his office back.
• Humble Goal: All he really wants is his old job and office back.
• I Call It "Vera": His latest fear toxin formula, "The Valley of Fear".
• Malevolent Masked Men
• Oh, Crap!: His face after seeing Harleen recover from his fear gas.
• Saved by Canon: It's a given Crane will survive the night since he has a cameo in The Dark Knight Rises.
• Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: By "Lost and Found Footage", he has absolutely had enough with the crazy antics of the evening and is seen making his way out of the asylum.

Lex Luthor

...

• Bald of Evil: Although not as evil as usual.
• Pet the Dog: While he does it for selfish reasons, he tries to convince Harvey to come back to the light.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Ultimately considers acquiring Arkham Asylum more trouble than it's worth, and agrees to sign it back over to Dr. Arkham. However, Arkham thinks this is merely Lex Luthor Code for "As soon as I get out of here I'm paying a hitman to shoot you in the face", so he has Two-Face shoot Lex instead.
• Unexpected Character
• You Look Familiar: Same actor as Hugo Strange.

Dr. Hugo Strange

• Berserk Button: He loses it when Joker implies that he's slept with his wife... at his house no less.
• Real Joke Name: When he first introduces himself, Joker doesn't believe it's actually his real name.
• Start of Darkness: Dr. Strange has left Arkham and plans to start his own clinic, with a special interest in the psychology of the Batman...
• What the Hell Is That Accent?: According to the actor, it started off a Germanic accent, then it mutated into some sort of Jamaican accent while filming.

Lyle Bolton

• Adaptational Wimp: So far, this Lock-Up is an incompetent Dumb Muscle.
• Batter Up!
• Butt-Monkey
• The Brute: Becomes this after the Joker's rampage.
• Dumb Muscle
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: Lyle is a buffoon. A buffoon that has savagely beaten and cold-bloodedly murdered several people.
• Orderlies are Creeps
• Sanity Slippage

Ted the Bum

• Better Living Through Evil: He says he's cooperating with the Joker because he wants to die, but you can tell the respect is a factor.
• Canon Foreigner: Appears to be a completely original character rather than an existing Batman or DCU personality.
• Death Seeker: As a result of his life being ruined by a number of events, he's perfectly fine with dying. It's because of this that the Joker takes a liking to him.
• New Job as the Plot Demands: His claiming to have held wildly varying jobs is a Running Gag. It's unclear whether he's lying to try and make himself sound useful or whether he's actually a big enough screw-up to have had and been fired from all of those jobs. It's confirmed that he was at least telling the truth about being a GCN cameraman. He was married to Summer Gleeson while he was employed there.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: Well, more of an Anti-Villain, but Ted is still far more competent than he appears. Case in point, in the second season, he helps the Joker escape by covertly passing off a metal spoon to him so that he can cut his bonds. Bonus points for doing it as a magic trick. Judging by the smile Joker gives him, he was pretty impressed. He's also pretty hand with a gun.
• Punny Name: His full name is apparently Theodore Bayer. Say it out loud. Of course he does work for the Joker. It could be an alias with the pun being intentional.
• Wild Hair: In Season 2 he has long hair and an unkempt beard, making him look much more like a homeless bum than in Season 1.

Dr. Thomas Elliot

...

• The Casanova: Is apparently able to charm men into bed in extremely short order, usually starting with just a smile. Although, since they are men, this may have more to do with certain other tropes than it does with this one.
• Mythology Gag:
  • "I like to keep my involvement with the Wayne family Hush, Hush."
  • He also threatens to rip Selena's heart out.

Selina Kyle

• Even The Gay Men Want Her: Is first introduced by seducing the until then extremely gay Thomas Elliot.
• Saved by Canon: Selina was a major part of The Dark Knight Rises. She'll be fine.

Summer Gleeson

• Intrepid Reporter

Pearl

• Butt-Monkey
• Killed Off for Real
• Race Lift: The original Pearl from Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth was white (although interestingly, the scene featuring her did serve as the inspiration for the famous "Pencil Trick" sequence in The Dark Knight, in which the victim is a black gangster.)

Guy Kopski

• Character Death
• The Lost Lenore: Very much this for Harleen. She even has visions of him.

Harvey Dent/Two-Face

• Not Quite Dead
• That Man Is Dead: Says this about Harvey.