Jokerz

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Jokerz are fictional characters in the DC Comics Animated universe, featured in Batman Beyond.

They are a street gang 40 years in the future of Gotham City that take their inspiration from the Joker, Batman's onetime archnemesis. They tend to dress in clownish costumes and makeup as did their namesake, but have none of the style or humor of the original.

[edit] Appearances

In the animated series Batman Beyond, Batman battled different versions of the gang on several occasions. There are three known such versions. The first is led by a vandal dressed as the Joker. Those were the Jokerz that Derek Powers' henchman Mr. Fixx incriminated for the murder of Terry McGinnis' parents in "Rebirth", the two-part pilot of the animated series. Their leader is J-Man, voiced by DCAU creator Bruce Timm.

A second group of Jokerz appeared in the episode "Hidden Agenda", led by a Jokerz member named Terminal, a top-tier student at Hamilton Hill High and a would-be killer of rival candidate for valedictorian Max Gibson. Max's search to determine who is after her leads her to find out Terry's secret life as Batman II.

In the direct-to-video feature Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, a third group, including Harley Quinn's twin granddaughters, was actually led by the revived Joker himself, who was using Tim Drake's body. This third group was defeated, and the host seemingly freed from the Joker's influence.

Later, in the animated series Justice League Unlimited, a villain called David Clinton, known in the comics as the Atom's archnemesis, Chronos, took leadership of that last band. The Joker's host was shown in a zombie state and Clinton gave cybernetic powers from the far future to the Jokerz making them able to kill most of the Justice League. Clinton also used his abilities to return Bonk, the Jokerz member killed by Drake/Joker. The remaining members of the League, Bruce Wayne, Batman II, Static, and Warhawk with the help of present-day Batman, Green Lantern John Stewart and Wonder Woman were able to stop the villain by trapping him on a continuous time recycling sequence.

[edit] Trivia

• The Jokerz are known to be rivals of another street gang known as the T's.
• In the series episode Joyride the Jokerz are shown initiating a new member. The initiation involves an abandoned mine shaft. During the sequence the leader of the group shines a flashlight toward the bottom of the shaft. When the bottom of the shaft is illuminated the viewer is shown a close up of a skeleton. The remains of the skeleton's clothing are purple with a white flower over its chest. Judging from Barbara Gordon's story in Return of the Joker of what was done with the Joker's body it is possible that these skeletal remains belong to the real Joker.
• The Jokerz' motorcycles are an hómage to the racing machine of one of the central characters in the manga (and film of the same name) Akira, Shotaro Kaneda.

[edit] Members

Band I:

• J-Man (Bruce Timm) - Dresses very similarly to the original Joker.
• Pilo (Kevin Michael Richardson)
• Cue (Scott Valentine)
• Scab (Marc Worden) - Wears a red, single-coned jester's cap, possibly inspired by Harley Quinn.
• Top Hat Joker (Bruce Timm)

Band II:

• Terminal (Michael Rosenbaum)
• Trey (Omar Gooding)
• Watkins (Michael Tucker)

Band III:

• Bonk (Henry Rollins) - A large, slow-witted member of the Jokerz gang. He is ll-tempered and violent, determined to kill Batman and argues with the Joker, accusing him of being a fake. In return, the Joker murders him, either with a venomous spear gun disguised as a BANG! flag gun, or with laughing gas (depending on the censored or uncut version of the movie). He is present again during Justice League Unlimited, likely due to Chronos' tampering with time.
• Chucko (Don Harvey) - obese, with tight-fitting pink clothes and a clown mask. He assists the Joker in his thefts and attempted murders. He uses a bazooka as a weapon. Chucko meets his demise in 'Justice League Unlimited' when he betrays Chronos and is sent back to the prehistoric age where he perishes along with the dinosaurs.
• Dee-Dee (Melissa Joan Hart) - the identical twin grandaughters of Harley Quinn. They use an acrobatics-based fighting style very similar to Harley's. They are imprisoned at the end of Return of the Joker, but returned with duplicating powers.
• Ghoul (Michael Rosenbaum) - he wears ragged clothing and has grey skin, numerous stitching/scar marks and skull-like features; possibly genetically altered his appearance to make himself look undead. His appearance vaguely mimics that of previous Batman nemesis Scarecrow and his voice and mannerisms are loosely based on Christopher Walken. Ghoul eventually returned with the power to turn his arm into a powerful buzzsaw.
• Woof (Frank Welker) - his genes are spliced with animal DNA, rendering him half hyena. He returns with metallic arms.
  • Former bosses of this team included
• Tim Drake/Joker (Mark Hamill)
• Chronos (Peter MacNicol)