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This Inconsistently Heinous was Headlined on November 2022. | ||
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This Article Contains Spoilers -
WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. |
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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | You know, you used to tell me that my laugh was a condition, that there's something wrong with me. There isn't. That's the real me. "Happy". Funny. I haven't been happy for one minute of my entire f-cking life. You know what's funny? You know what really makes me laugh? I used to think that my life was a tragedy. But now, I realize, it's a f**king comedy. | „ |
| ~ Arthur accepting himself as Joker as he kills his mother, Penny Fleck. |
| “ | Joker: How about another joke, Murray? Murray: No, I think we've had enough of your jokes. Joker: What do you get... Murray: I don't think so. Joker: ...when you cross... Murray: I think we're done with your joke. Joker: ...a mentally ill loner... Murray: That's it. Joker: ...with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash?! Murray: Call the police, Gene! Joker: I'll tell you what you get! Murray: Call the police! Joker: YOU GET WHAT YOU F**KING DESERVE!! |
„ |
| ~ Arthur's breakdown and most famous quote as he kills Murray Franklin. |
Arthur Fleck, later and formerly known as Joker, is the titular main protagonist of the 2019 psychological comic book thriller film of the same name and its 2024 sequel Joker: Folie à Deux.
He is a mentally unstable person who was abused throughout his entire life. After a series of unfortunate events and due to his lack of success as a comedian, he finally snaps and becomes a violent anarchist who murders people and aims to destroy and reconstruct the social structure of Gotham City.
He was portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix.
His Evil Rankings[]
What Makes Him Heinous?[]
In General[]
- Although unambiguously mentally-ill, he still knew better, and he could still comprehend the long-term consequences of his deeds and actions. Furthermore, he had moral standards and was disturbed by the society's ways and norms, verifying that he retained a complete moral agency.
- Despite having comedic moments like any other incarnations of the Joker, they did not detract most of them as he's still taken seriously in-universe with some of them showing how twisted and sadistic his sense of humor could be, with Murray Franklin and the in-universe audience expressing dismay at his "knock-knock" joke on the "Murray Franklin" show.
- In fact, Franklin, after unwisely provoking Arthur, even said "I think we've had enough of your jokes".
Joker[]
- He killed three young men on a subway train with a gun after they beat him up, and although it was to save a woman and the first and second ones were in self-defense, the third was out of malice as that one was already escaping before he went out of his way to kill him.
- After he learned that his mother had allowed her boyfriend to horribly abuse him as a child, he pressed a pillow against her face and suffocated her to death.
- Whilst this is may seem karmic, it should be noted that she is of very questionable mental health, meaning it is very debatable whether she fully comprehended what was happening when Arthur was being abused, and in any case, is a harmless old lady in the present day.
- He killed one of his colleagues named Randall by repeatedly stabbing him because he had set him up to be fired.
- This had the effect of traumatizing Gary, and whilst Randall is a jerk, this is too much
- When two policemen tried to chase him, he ran away and while he tried to escape in a subway train, his actions unintentionally caused one protester to be accidentally killed by one of the detectives and the crowd to attack them and savagely beat them up.
- While Arthur didn't intend for this to happen, he still showed clear satisfaction when he saw them getting beat up and when he later heard that they are in critical condition.
- He openly admitted to killing the three harassing employees in the subway while on Murray's show, taunting their deaths, before shooting Murray on live TV after Murray had made fun of him earlier.
- While the “joke” was disrespectful, what Arthur did was still a horrible act as Murray wasn’t intentionally being malicious.
- His actions inspired a violent riot throughout the city with many people injured and some even killed, such as Bruce Wayne's parents (though they were corrupt).
- While Arthur didn't intend for this to happen, he still showed clear satisfaction over what he caused and is proud of it.
- Though ambiguous, he is implied to have assaulted his psychiatrist with no remorse by the end of the film and walked away.
- While the majority of his victims deserved their fates due to harming him in some way, he still killed others out of pure revenge rather than any moral reason.
- Moreover, he was willing to and did kill a few innocents like his psychiatrist as described above and was gleeful about lots of innocent people being murdered in his hometown, which he called "beautiful".
Joker: Folie à Deux[]
- He forcefully kissed his lawyer Maryanne Stewart for no reason before his televised interview.
- He unintentionally caused a riot between his fellow prisoners from his ward, resulting in a number of them getting brutally beaten by the guards of which he felt no remorse for with him genuinely laughing at the chaos surrounding him.
- While representing himself in court during his trial, he cruelly belittled and berated his former co-worker Gary Puddles, causing the latter to emotionally break down and attempt to coax out Arthur's humanity.
- His actions and public perception in the long run led to the bombing of the courtroom by Joker fans in an attempt to save him from his conviction, resulting in the deaths and injuries of those present, even the disfigurement of Harvey Dent.
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
- His past made him far, FAR too tragic to be NPE, let alone PE:
- His mother's boyfriend violently abused him when he was a child by tying him to a radiator and beating him up, which caused him to develop his laughing condition.
- His laughing condition caused people to view him as a crazy weirdo/freak and as a result, nobody wanted to be friends with him. At one point he even got beaten up by three young employees at Wall Street due to his condition.
- He lived with his mother in extreme poverty, and he tried to hold his job as a clown but little to none of his colleagues liked him and one of them even set him up to be fired, as his boss fired him unfairly, and in the very first scene he is beaten up by a bunch of kids who stole his sign.
- He then tried to become a real comedian and be like his idol, Murray Franklin, but Murray mocked his performance on his show in front of an immense audience which made Arthur feel betrayed.
- He attempts suicide at one point by attempting to suffocate himself in his fridge.
- He also discovered that Penny was not his real mother, was insane, had lied to him about Thomas Wayne being his father, and was responsible for his laughing condition by letting her boyfriend abuse him.
- The government stopped his social program, and he couldn't get his medicine or councilor help to treat his condition, which deteriorated his mental state beyond repair.
- Also, while he thought that Thomas Wayne is his father, he tried to approach him to recognize but Thomas punched him in the face and didn't acknowledge him as a son.
- While this initially seemed deserved (given that he touched his kid and strangled his butler), this is one of the other reasons of why he was the way he was today, because everyone is cruel to him for his erratic laughter.
- He also discovered that Sophie didn't love him and the romantic moments he supposedly shared with her were all delusions in his own mind. Because of this, he also suffered from many insecurities and just wanted people to accept him. When this didn't happen, he turns against society.
- In general, the entire point of the first film is that the audience is supposed to feel immense sympathy and arguably even root for Joker despite his horrendous actions (which was successful).
- Also, it was heavily implied that he was sexually assaulted by Jackie Sullivan and the rest of the Arkham State Hospital guards as punishment after he had insulted them during his televised trial in court.
- He had a genuine crush on Sophie and wanted to have a relationship with her, to the point where he had delusions that she truly loved him. He allowed her and her daughter to live since they never harmed him.
- He was genuinely affable to Gary Puddles and even let him go unharmed after killing Randall, displaying mercy while telling him he was the only one who was ever nice to him. He also didn't harm Ms. Ruth or anyone else despite being capable of doing so after killing Murray since they never harmed him.
- Furthermore, despite cruelly belittling and berating Gary during his trial as an act to appease Harley and the Joker fanatics, he ended up feeling remorse for doing so after Gary had attempted to coax out his humanity.
- He had a soft spot for children and would spare them, shown when he refused to fight back against the teens who steal his sign since they are minors, entertained sick children at a hospital, the same to another kid on a bus, and stopped strangling Alfred when he noticed Bruce watching.
- He was disgusted that the city of Gotham was ruined by corrupt politicians and wealthy individuals and that everyone was rude to each other, showing that he had moral standards.
- He also genuinely loved Harley Quinn and desired to start a new life with her and was saddened when she lied to him about her pregnancy and dumped him for renouncing himself as Joker out of remorse.
- In actuality, she never loved him for who of he really was but rather fanatically obsessed with him because of the persona and idea of Joker that his fans romanticized and worshiped, adding further to his sympathy.
- He felt remorse for the murder of his friend and fellow inmate Nicky after Jackie strangled him to death in a fit of rage for rebelling against him and the other guards in defense of Arthur.
- He felt genuine remorse for his crimes and how it had negatively influenced society around him to become more violent and anarchistic.
- His death was played for sympathy as he was stabbed to death by a psychopathic and fanatical inmate, who once praised him but decided to snuff him out for renouncing himself as Joker.
Trivia[]
- He is the current icon of the "Mature Content Warning!" template where he kills Murray by using a weapon.
- Originally, Arthur was going to be the one to not only shoot the Waynes dead, but he would have also murdered the young Bruce alongside them though this was cut because this meant that Batman wouldn't exist. Had this been kept in the final film, it would have made Arthur even more heinous as it would get rid of his soft spot for children.
External Links[]
- Joker on the Villains Wiki
- Joker on the DC Database Wiki
- Joker on the Batman Wiki
- Joker on the VS Battles Wiki
[]
 Inconsistently Heinous
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