Editing Joker (character) (section)

==={{anchor|Various origins}}Origins===
{{Quote box|width=27%|align=right|quote= "They've given many origins of the Joker, how he came to be. That doesn't seem to matter—just how he is now. I never intended to give a reason for his appearance. We discussed that and Bill [Finger] and I never wanted to change it at that time. I thought—and he agreed—that it takes away some of the essential mystery."|source=– Jerry Robinson, the Joker's creator{{sfn|Langley|2012|p=180}}|style=padding:10px; background-color: #EFEFEF;}}

Although a number of [[Backstory|backstories]] have been given, a definitive one has never been established for the Joker. An [[unreliable narrator]], the character is uncertain of who he was before and how he became the Joker: "Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another&nbsp;...if I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!"<ref name= "Origin3"/><ref name="TKJ"/> A story about the Joker's origin appeared in ''Detective Comics'' #168 (February 1951), more than decade after the character's debut. Here, the character is a laboratory worker who becomes the Red Hood (a masked criminal) to steal $1 million and retire. He falls into a vat of chemical waste when his heist is thwarted by Batman, emerging with bleached white skin, red lips, green hair and a permanent grin.<ref name="Origin1"/><ref name= "Origin2"/>

This story was the basis for the most often-cited origin tale, Moore's [[One-shot (comics)|one-shot]] ''The Killing Joke''.<ref name= "ModernAge11"/> The man who will become the Joker quits his job as a lab assistant in order to fulfill his dream of being a stand-up comedian, only to fail miserably. Desperate to support his pregnant wife, he agrees to help two criminals commit a robbery as the Red Hood. The heist goes awry; the comedian leaps into a chemical vat to escape Batman, surfacing disfigured. This, combined with the earlier accidental death of his wife and unborn child, drives the comedian insane, turning him into the Joker.<ref name="SilverAge1"/><ref name="ImpactCBR2"/> This version has been cited in many stories, including ''[[Batman: The Man Who Laughs]]'' (in which Batman deduces that the Red Hood survived his fall and became the Joker), ''Batman'' #450 (in which the Joker dons the Red Hood to aid his recovery after the events in "A Death in the Family", but finds the experience too traumatic), ''[[Batman: Shadow of the Bat]]'' #38 (in which Joker's failed stand-up performance is shown), "Death of the Family",<ref name="Origin2"/> and ''Batman: Three Jokers'' (which asserts that it is the [[canon (fiction)|canon]] origin story).<ref name="IGNThreeJokersEnding"/> Other stories have expanded on this origin; "[[Batman: Gotham Knights|Pushback]]" suggests that the Joker's wife was murdered by a corrupt policeman working for the mobsters,<ref name="OriginPushback"/> and "Payback" gives the Joker's first name as "Jack".<ref name="Origin2"/> The ending of ''Batman: Three Jokers'' establishes that the Joker's wife did not actually die—rather, she fled to Alaska with the help of Gotham police and Batman because she feared her husband would be an abusive father; the police then told the Joker a story about her dying to protect her. The miniseries also reveals that Batman knows the Joker's identity, and has kept it secret in order to protect the criminal's wife and son.<ref name="IGNThreeJokersEnding">{{cite web |last1=Schedeen |first1=Jesse |title=Three Jokers Ending Explained: How the Series Redefines Batman and Joker's Rivalry |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/batman-three-jokers-finale-ending-explained-identity-canon |website=[[IGN]] |access-date=October 28, 2020 |date=October 27, 2020}}</ref>

However, the Joker's unreliable memory has allowed writers to develop other origins for the character.<ref name="Origin2"/> "Case Study", a [[Paul Dini]]-[[Alex Ross]] story, describes the Joker as a sadistic gangster who creates the Red Hood identity because he misses the thrill of committing robberies. He has his fateful first meeting with Batman, which results in his disfigurement. It is suggested that the Joker is sane, and researches his crimes to ''look like'' the work of a sick mind in order to avoid the death penalty. In ''[[Batman Confidential]]'' #7–12, the character Jack is a career criminal who is bored with his work. He encounters (and becomes obsessed with) Batman during a heist, embarking on a crime spree to attract the Caped Crusader's attention. After Jack injures Batman's girlfriend, Batman scars Jack's face with a [[Glasgow smile|permanent grin]] and betrays him to a group of mobsters, who torture him in a chemical plant. Jack escapes but falls into an empty vat as gunfire punctures chemical tanks above him. The flood of chemicals (used in [[anti-psychotic]] medication) alters his appearance and completes his transformation.<ref name="ComicBatmanConfidential"/> In ''[[The Brave and the Bold]]'' #31, the superhero [[Atom (Ray Palmer)|Atom]] enters the Joker's mind and sees the criminal's former self - a violent sociopath who [[zoosadism|tortures animals]], murders his own parents, and kills for fun while committing robberies.<ref name="BraveandBold31Review"/> Snyder's "[[Batman: Zero Year|Zero Year]]" (2013) suggests that the pre-disfigured Joker was a criminal mastermind leading a gang of Red Hoods.<ref name="IGNEndgame"/><ref name="OriginZeroYear"/>