Sandbox / YMMV The Joker

• Accidental Innuendo: "The Joker's Comedy of Errors" revolves around the word "boner". Back when the comic was written, "boner" meant "mistake", but nowadays it means "erection".
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Considering I'm... ahead of the curve, any and ALL interpretations are equally likely, and not even mutually exclusive!
  • Was he really lying to Harley about his past when they first met, or was he just telling her the Multiple-Choice Past he remembered at that particular time?
  • Is he really insane, or is he just faking it so he won't get the death penalty? Even Batman has wondered that on occasion.
• Archive Panic: Given that he's been at it about as long as Batman himself, he's amassed quite a few appearances.
• Award Snub:
  • Sure, my voice pals and I have gotten quite a few awards through the years, but there are times when I have gotten a bit more Award Snubs too. One of them was the 2012 Joystick Award for one of the Top Gaming Moments: my Downer Ending in Batman: Arkham City. Unfortunately, even this Tear Jerker ending lost to "The Throat of the World" in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim! Dude, Where's My Respect? Whoever snubbed me of my best moment has surely got some 'splainin' to do!
  • And of course, a lot of people got up in arms when ol' Jackie Boy didn't get so much as an Oscar nomination. Heck, Anton Furst reamed out the academy for it.
  • Mark Hamill sometimes brings up how his fellow Joker voice Kevin Michael Richardson was nominated for an Emmy while Markie himself was never nominated. All in good fun, of course, seeing as they're buds.
• Base-Breaking Character: It looks like I've become this in recent years. Either you love me for being such a great and iconic villain, or you think I'm pulling a Ganon and you're sick to death of me over it.
• Can't Un-Hear It: Regardless of which version of me you think is best, odds are that Mark Hamill's interpretation is the one you'll hear in your head when reading any of my lines. Unless my Heath Ledger voice put a smile on your face. Or unless you grew up watching Cesar Romero do his wonderful unshaven interpretation of the Clown Prince of Crime! Or unless for if you are fond of either the Golden Age or Silver Age versions of me, you would probably hear the voice of Jeff Bennett in your head whenever you are reading the lines of those versions of me. For some, Richard Epcar's iteration will be in your head.
• Complete Monster: I will concede that I'm not very nice. But it really depends on which work I appear in. See my reeeaaaally long list of thrillin' accomplishments and misdeeds at CM Incarnations Per Character!
• Crazy Is Cool: Admit it, laughing fishes were an awesome idea. Pity it didn't work.
• Creepy Awesome: I'm quite possibly the most terrifying person in the DC Universe. And you love me for it.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Line? LINE?! IT'S COMEDY! There IS no line! BAH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!
• Draco in Leather Pants: Well, whaddaya know? I'm a hit with the ladies!
  • Yes, fellas, I see you too. Now take them creepy pictures off the Interwebs, pronto. Believe it or not, even I have some standards.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: I wasn't always the big cat in Gotham. I was supposed to be some throwaway Villain of the Week. But I knocked audiences dead, and proved popular enough to return to mess about with Bat-brain's head again and again.
• Evil Is Cool: Of course I am! I'm a riot, I'm terrifying, I'm smart, what's not to like?
• Fandom Rivalry: Apparently, some of you people are beating each other to death over whether Mark Hamill or Heath Ledger is the better me, with Jared Leto and Joaquin Phoenix fans soon to join the fray. Get over it! Either of them is perfectly fine and dandy as a valid me! After all, the more Multiple Choice my Past the better.
  • And I know some of my more "mature" fans (and by mature, I mean old enough to remember The '60s) are still fond of Cesar Romero — the 2014 DVD box sets are helping his cause too.
• Fridge Brilliance: Oh, how my fans were dreading The Reveal of my identity... too bad I pulled a fast one by revealing that I'm actually more than one person. Suppose I might have to thank Bat-fake for helping my writers come up with it.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Oh, aren't they all? Though reading about those times when others have tried to steal my idea of copyrighting a lifeform of my own design had me giggle. If someone as clever and handsome as me couldn't pull it off, what makes them think they can? Wait, what do you mean, they did?!
  • My rant to Red Skull in Batman & Captain America became this after Marvel decided that good ol' Cap is himself a member of HYDRA. Or maybe not. Personally, I found it hilarious!
• Ho Yay: I did have that fling with one of my mooks in "The Devil's Advocate" now, didn't I... And he's lucky just his legs got broken.
• Love to Hate: What can I say? There's no fun in being loathsome unless you're entertaining about it.
• Magnificent Bastard: I always consider myself to be magnificent but others don't think so, saying that I'm too depraved and unstable... Errrgh! I'll show them who's depraved and unstable!!! But hey, at least this fella managed to qualify:
  • From Batman & Captain America: The Joker has all the cunning and audacity one would expect from him, but lacks the instability and depravity many other incarnations are known for. Receiving information from a mysterious figure, Joker decides to use a nuclear weapon to blackmail Gotham City into paying him a million dollars. He initially plans to build his own nuke, successfully obtaining radioactive material and cleverly escaping from Batman in the process. When this approach fails after an attempt to kidnap Robert Oppenheimer is foiled by Batman and Captain America, Joker changes tactics and decides to steal a prototype atomic bomb codenamed "Fat Boy". After succeeding at this, Joker learns that his informer is the Red Skull, a Nazi operative. Declaring his hatred of the Nazis, Joker attempts to kill the Skull, but is captured and brought aboard his plane. But later on, the Joker escapes and sabotages the plane's lowering mechanism to keep the Skull from dropping Fat Boy, taunting and mocking him even as he attacks. Ruthless, witty, and able to roll with the punches, the Joker demonstrates that he's earned his title of Clown Prince of Crime.
• Memetic Mutation: My "Joker Face"◊ from Batman: The Animated Series has turned into a forum Image Macro by way of a non-verbal Flat "What" reaction to either a Violation of Common Sense or firm grasps of the Idiot Ball.
  • "You killed Captain Clown. YOU KILLED CAPTAIN CLOWN! You're going to fry like a grilled cheese sandwich!
  • There's also nearly everything that spewed out of my mouth when Heath Ledger became me.
  • After The Reveal that Steve Rogers is The Mole for HYDRA, people like to point to the image in Even Evil Has Standards from Batman & Captain America and say that I'm more of an upstanding person than he is.
  • For some odd reason, recently people have portrayed me as a gamer who has grown disillusioned with society, usually saying "We Live in a Society". More often than not, this portrayal relies on the aforementioned Heath Ledger version of me, although it's not uncommon to run into versions that use the Jared Leto or now the Joaquin Phoenix versions of me.
    • It goes even deeper than that, at least in Spanish-speaking countries. Supposedly some pretentious content creators thinking themselves as some Paulo Coelho wannabe started to make "inspirational quotes" about society and claiming them on my image. It led to this practice being mocked in that wacky side of the pond, and for good riddance!
  • I am going to drink ocean water. You can't stop me!
• Memetic Molester: I'm this because of some fans' views on what happened in The Killing Joke, despite Alan Moore saying I did not touch Jimmy Gordon or his daughter in that way. Given ol' Beardie's other work, kinda hard to believe him. The animated version didn't help, with Batsy interviewing some prostitutes and them saying I normally see them after I escaped but didn't that time, though Bruce Timm is also on record as saying I didn't touch Barbara like that, either. On the other hand, in my self-titled graphic novel, there was Jonny Jonny's ex-wife...
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Crippling Jimmy's daughter? Bashing in Robin's brains with a crowbar? Blowing Sarah Essen's head off? Something else I've missed? I've performed so many atrocities that it's hard to say when I completely damned myself. And you love me for it!
  • Oh, wait, everyone! I just remembered! I sold my soul to that Neron guy, that's when! Damn great cigars I got!
  • Many fans haven't forgiven me for shooting Bob. He was my number one guy, you know.
  • There are fans that hate me for blowing up Harvey’s girlfriend. I told Harv that there are no hard feelings.
• Never Live It Down: If that stooge from Atop the Fourth Wall is any indication, it's been over fifty years and people are still laughing at my boner. Honestly! Time may change language, but it doesn't erase Have a Gay Old Time.
• Questioanble Casting:
  • Remember when people thought that casting that gay cowboy as me was a terrible idea? That guy really nailed it, though — I do love a bit of Black Comedy. Shame he didn't get to do an encore.
  • And admit it, if you heard Luke Skywalker was playing me over Tim Curry back when Batman: The Animated Series first aired you might not have been very happy at first. But again, this worked out very well too.
  • And then there was the time Data was cast as yours truly. This one was a teensy bit more contentious, eh?
  • What about that time they got Commodus to portray me? People weren't sold at first, but Joaquin made them all eat their words. Good on you, friend. Swing away.
• The Scrappy:
  • No, it's not me in general but apparently, nobody liked my new look from the retooled fourth season of the very popular animated adaptation. Oh come on, it can't be that...JUMPING JIMINY CHRISTMAS!! WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO ME?! They sucked the color out! My eyes look like some alien's possessed me! KILL IT! KILL IT! *Fwip! BANG!*
    • Thankfully, they did a better job with the design of this rendition of me in the following adaptations that he is featured in.
  • My cartoon selves seem to be prone to this; the dread-locked kung-fu-fighting version of me really got a lot of flack. Admittedly, wearing that torn-up purple straitjacket, and then my sweet jacket without shoes was probably not my best idea.
  • The version of me played by ol' Jerry Leto's ruffled more than a few feathers. Damaged on my forehead, really? Poor guy losing most of his scenes didn't leave him with much material to work with either, but them's the breaks, ain't it?
• Unfortunate Character Design: Of course, there are some times when some of my costumes seem to be laughable. In the Batman: The Brave and the Bold incarnation of Emperor Joker, for example, my spandexed Emperor Jester costume◊ looks nothing at all like the royal one I wore◊ in the Superman original comic book! In fact, it felt so laughable, that the biggest flaw in my costume is the Whoopee Cushion in my crown, which looks almost like... you know... let's just say... a condom. Whoever designed my costume like this in the show's episode creation department deserves to realize the biggest boner (i.e., mistake) they'll never forget!

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