When thinking of Batman, one quickly thinks of his arch-nemesis: the Joker. One of the most famous versions comes from the film The Dark Knight by Christopher Nolan. Even in his trilogy, it is suggested that the Joker exists solely because of the hero. Nolan uses a clever scene for this.
What kind of scene is it? In a video that lasts less than 3 minutes, YouTuber Euphoric shows, using the party scene for Harvey Dent in the film The Dark Knight from 2008, how Batman, played by Christian Bale, and the Joker, played by Heath Ledger, are similar.
First, he highlights the scene at the end of Batman Begins (2005). There, Jim Gordon tells Batman that crimes keep escalating. If the police arm themselves better, so do the criminals. In doing so, he also speaks to the hero: he wears a mask and jumps from rooftops. After that, he introduces the Joker, who becomes relevant in the next film.
You can watch Euphoric’s YouTube video here:
Euphoric shows the charity party scene and compares the performances of Bruce Wayne and the Joker. They are quite similar if you look closely:
- Bruce lands with a helicopter and 3 women at the party, interrupts the conversations, and draws attention to himself
- Afterwards, he asks about Harvey Dent, but first focuses on Rachel
- He throws away his drink
The Joker does exactly the same:
- He storms in with a weapon, interrupts the party, and everyone looks at him
- He asks for Harvey but walks over to Rachel first
- When he reaches for a drink, everything spills, so he also drinks nothing
Such parallels are no coincidence, especially not with a director like Christopher Nolan. When considering that both play a significant role in the development of Harvey Dent, it becomes even more noticeable. The Joker exists in The Dark Knight solely because of Batman, but this is also a recurring theme in other works.
Is Batman to blame for everything?
How does it manifest in other works? A prominent example of the relationship between the Joker and Batman is the Batman: Arkham game trilogy by developer Rocksteady. In all 3 games, the Joker plays an important role, and the villain Hugo Strange argues in Arkham City: all the crimes in Gotham and his existence have created the Joker.
This is especially evident in one fact: The Joker has no real goal. In Arkham City, the Joker has the chance to unmask Batman, but he does not do it. He even tells Harley that it would take the fun out of it all. The Joker needs Batman, for otherwise he has no opponent. Compared to other villains who see Batman as a disruptive factor, this becomes clear:
- Black Mask and the Penguin are crime bosses who seek money and power
- Mr. Freeze wants to save his wife
- Poison Ivy wants to save nature
- Ra’s al Ghul wants to create a utopia and is willing to kill countless people for it
- Villains like Two-Face or Killer Croc have become who they are due to accidents or difficult circumstances
In many Batman stories, the villains also only appear when Batman himself shows up. First, he wants to hunt regular criminals, but the dangers escalate. Just as Gordon describes in Batman Begins or Hugo Strange in Arkham City.
Batman himself seems to have a dependency on the Joker. Although the villain is dead in the game Arkham Knight, the hero constantly hallucinates about him. He comments on events and constitutes a part of Bruce in the game.
But as is often the case with comic book heroes: There are many approaches to the character. In the comic The Killing Joke, a backstory is implied, while in the series Batman – The Three Jokers, even 3 villains are confirmed who are said to have portrayed the antagonist over the years.
In the comic series Knight Terrors: The Joker, the Joker undergoes significant changes with Batman’s death, even taking on a desk job (via Screen Rant).
Does the relationship with Batman make the Joker so popular? The Joker is not just a person in the many Batman works. He is the personification of chaos that causes crime in Gotham. Batman can never completely defeat him. It is a downward spiral. The Joker wants to break Batman, and for that, he goes further every time, and Batman has to stop him each time.
Batman can help other villains, but as long as Batman lives, the Joker will always remain the natural disaster that plagues Gotham. They are both sides of Gotham, both costumed figures representing chaos and hope. Batman’s mask protects not only Bruce Wayne: A villain knows Batman’s greatest secret and keeps it to himself because he fears the consequences
