The Joker

"No, no, no! You were supposed to DIE when the clown exploded!"

- Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

The Joker is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain that appears in the pages of DC Comics. One of the many DC characters chosen to appear in the crossover video game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, he is arguably DC's most well known antagonist. With Joker's reputation for unmatched sadism and maniacal homicidal tendencies, his counterpart in the crossover game is Kano.

About The Joker
Because of his chronic and deeply seeded insanity, there is no definitive story of how the man who would become The Joker came to be. There are, however, a few prevailing versions of what could be his origin story.

The most well-known of these is about a man with a pregnant wife, down on his luck and trying to make money as a stand-up comic. Not able to make ends meet, he is recruited by a group of career criminals to assist in a heist at a chemical plant using the traded off guise of the Red Hood. Right before the job was to be carried out, the man learns that his wife and unborn child were killed in a fire at their apartment. Feeling hopeless, the man agrees to the job and breaks into the chemical plant with the criminals as the Red Hood. Coming under fire, one of the criminals is killed by gunfire from a police officer, and one escapes, leaving the man in the Hood alone.

It's then that Gotham's nocturnal avenger, the Batman descends on him on a catwalk. Cowering from him, the man loses his footing and falls into a large vat of chemicals before Batman can save him. Washing ashore, the man feels burning in his face and eyes. Discarding the Hood, the man looks at his reflection in a puddle of rain and sees his skin bleached white, his hair turned emerald green, and his mouth stretched into a rigor mortis smile. The man begins crying, then giggling, and suddenly bursts into laughter, driven irredeemably insane by one bad day and a horrible disfigurement. From then on, the Joker's brilliantly sadistic and reprehensible actions have plagued Gotham City and Batman in the years since.

MK vs. DC
The Joker escaped from Arkham Asylum and fled into Gotham until he was confronted and defeated by Batman. However, when Batman was distracted fighting Liu Kang, The Joker escaped. As he was running, he encountered Scorpion, who defeated the Joker in combat. Lex Luthor recruited the Joker with Catwoman and Deathstroke and his team of villains. Luthor dispatched Joker to find the teleportal that would send them back to Apokolips along with Deathstroke.

They meet Sonya Blade and Kano and fought,The Joker took on Sonya while Deathstroke took on Kano. The Joker defeats Sonya and pushes Deathstroke aside and takes on Kano himself and defeats him too. The Kombat Rage gets to him and he betrays Deathstroke, defeating him too. He takes on his old archnemesis Batman, believing to be able to defeat him also, and loses to Batman.

He is defeated in the final battle between the DC universe heroes and The Mortal Kombat warriors, however Superman and Raiden defeated Dark Kahn.

Biography

 * MK vs DCU: "An insanely homicidal super-villain, the Joker's white skin, green hair, and blood-red lips belie the chaotic nature underlying his cartoonish appearance. The self-styled "Clown Prince of Crime" has no superpowers, beyond a capacity for incredible violence and a skill at creating deadly mayhem. He frequently concocts elaborate schemes to entrap his arch-nemesis, Batman."

Powers and abilities
Although The Joker is a human man with no supernatural enhancements, natural or otherwise, his lack of sanity and rationality have themselves been a fatal weapon to his many, many victims as he is unencumbered by rational thought and is therefore extraordinarily creative, if not vindictive and sadistic. This has translated to his many schemes over the years, as well as in his hand-to-hand combat style. Although Joker prefers to have henchmen do the "dirty work" for him, having a resourceful nemesis like Batman has forced Joker to be able to fight hand-to-hand in situations that force him to. Sometimes using weapons that play off his clownish appearance, many times Joker prefers stabbing weapons and firearms, and always attempts to use his methods of killing in ways that he finds ironic and humorous.

Signature moves

 * Joker's Wild: Joker throws a playing card lined with steel at the opponent. (MKvsDCU)
 * Sinister Heels: Joker grabs the opponent and kicks them repeatedly with the back of his foot.(MKvsDCU)
 * Put It There: Joker counters an opponent's attack by grabbing their hand and shocking them with his electric joybuzzer. He then laughs giddily and dances in a circle. (MKvsDCU)
 * Bombs Away: Joker throws a bomb with a smiley face on it that bounces up and down before exploding. He can do this from far away or close up. (MKvsDCU)
 * Magic Trick: Joker is enveloped in a cloud of green smoke. Any button which is pressed in this brief state will produce a different attack. (MKvsDCU)
 * Surprise Stomp: Joker does a flying jump kick. (MKvsDCU)
 * Surprise Slide: Joker does a sliding kick across the ground. (MKvsDCU)
 * Surprise Bomb: Joker appears from the mist with a bomb in his hand. (MKvsDCU)
 * Surprise Pistol Whip: Joker smacks the opponent with pistol. (MKvsDCU)
 * The Funnyman: Joker dances around, boosting his rage meter. (MKvsDCU)
 * Punching Bag: Joker fires a punching glove attached to a string that goes halfway across the field. (MKvsDCU)

Fatalities

 * Gunshot: Joker takes out a gun and shoots it, but it was fake and shows the words "Bang" on it. He drops it and starts to laugh. Than he pulls out a real gun and shoots the opponent in the head, killing them. In the North American version, this fatality is edited so that the camera zooms in on Joker as he shoots, cutting the victim out of shot.
 * Playing Cards: Joker takes out 3 cards and throws 2 at the opponent body. Than he throws one more at the opponent's head.

Endings

 * MK vs DCU: "As the worlds separated, the Joker discovered he had retained his new powers. With them he soon controlled all of Gotham, proclaiming himself "Mayor Joker." Under his rule, the city devolved into chaos. He now holds a tournament in which "contestants" are forced to fight to the death for his amusement. The winner will face off against the Joker himself."

Trivia

 * The Joker is one of the two only fighters in the MK vs. DC Universe game that laugh when under the influence of rage.
 * Joker is also the only fighter to hit the opponent AFTER they are down. He does this by stomping on their groin. This cannot be prevented, and always happens when a fatality is not performed.
 * His Fatality, the Killing Joke, is named after the oneshot comic showcasing a psychological battle between him and his archnemesis, Batman, whilst detailing pieces of his life before turning into the Joker.
 * In NTSC regions, The Joker's first fatality, the Killing Joke, was mildly censored to keep with the Teen rating. However, in PAL regions, the fatality is shown in full, including the death of his opponent.