Batman: The Animated Series - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles
The Joker
Mad, menacing and merciless, The Joker was the self-proclaimed ‘Clown Prince of Crime’ and far and away Batman’s most persistent and deadliest of foes. The Joker had formerly been a mob enforcer named Jack Napier. In a botched robbery attempt at the Ace Chemical Plant, Napier fell into a vat of a strange and acidic chemicals. He managed to survive yet the ordeal left him forever changed. His hair was turned green and his skin was bleached a deathly shade of white. It also detached him from the last strains of his sanity.
His ghastly new visage looked like a joker from a deck of cards and he took it as his new name. The Joker would go on to become a super villain who plagued Gotham for years. Although he often stole money, weapons or jewels, his ultimate goal was always to sew chaos, to break the world around him and make everyone as mad and unhinged as he.
The Joker developed a special aerosol toxin. This ‘Joker Venom’ caused the infected to laugh uncontrollably and for the muscles in their face to become paralyzed in a painful grin. This effect could be fatal or ultimately remit depending on the dosage.
Actor/Jedi Mark Hamill provided the voice for The Joker with the villain first appearing in the seventh episode of the first season of Batman: The Animated Series, ‘Joker’s Favor.’
