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fishfingersandjellybabies · 4 years

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They All Fall Down - fic

Characters: Damian Wayne, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Bruce Wayne, Jon Kent, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake Summary: Bruce didn’t destroy Dick and Tim after they infected him with the Anti-Life Equation. Now Damian might be the one who pays the price for the oversight. A/N: A DCEASED what-if because I like to hurt myself. Clark and Jon heard Damian’s heartbeat speed up and knew something was wrong. They’d all been silently checking on him during his mourning so they knew where he was. It continues into the normal story from there I imagine. Sorry the end is a little iffy, not sorry for the emotions~ Reminder if you like my stuff, please check out and consider my Patreon and/or Ko-Fi for more!

Damian couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. Just held the communicator as tight as possible.

His father had contacted them, told them he was dying. He’d been infected by the Anti-Life Equation, but slowed the spread long enough to call. To say he loved him, he was sorry, and that Alfred was coming.

“But…Bruce, I don’t understand.” Clark was saying, but Damian wasn’t paying attention. He was still trying to comprehend. “I mean…I know you have a lot of technology, but surely there’s failsafes…”

“There…are.” Bruce’s breath was labored. “I was attacked.”

“By who?” Clark demanded. “You said Alfred is fine…”

“Dick. Tim.” Bruce wheezed. “And that’s…that’s something else.”

Damian closed his eyes instantly. Grayson was already gone. Drake. And the apocalypse had barely even started.

What about everyone else? Todd? Cain? Commissioner Gordon? Did they get calls from Father too? Did they know what was happening? Or were they gone too?

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Opened his eyes to see Lois Lane standing next to him, ready to comfort. Jon was behind her, tears in his eyes as he bit his lip.

“…I didn’t kill them.” Bruce whispered. “I…It all happened so fast, and I was too weak. They escaped the manor before Alfred got his shotgun. Before I could go after them.”

Jon gasped, clamped his hand over his mouth. Clark paused, glanced at Damian himself. “…How long ago?”

“Hours.” Bruce admitted. “…Clark, they were heading in the direction of Metropolis.”

“But why?” Lois called. “Why wouldn’t they go into Gotham?”

“Higher population in Metropolis. More people to infect there than Gotham, I imagine. Especially with you all there saving people. Here…” Bruce hesitated. “It’s a bloodbath here already.”

“Father…!” Damian called. Lois’s hand squeezed his shoulder.

“Alfred will be there soon, Damian. Don’t worry.” Bruce promised. “I’m…I’m sorry.”

“Don’t.” Damian cried, ignoring the tears already on his face. “Father, please don’t. You always win. You always find a way-”

“Not this time, son. I’m sorry.” And Bruce sounded genuinely apologetic. Like he’d failed at something. “Stay with Clark and Lois, alright? They’ll keep you safe. And they’ll keep Alfred safe when he gets there too.”

Damian sniffed, wiped at his eyes. “…Yes, sir.”

“I love you, Damian. I always have.” Bruce’s breath hitched. “And I’m so proud of you.”

“I love you, too.” Damian whispered. “I love you, too, Father. Thank you for everything. Thank you for loving me too.”

Bruce grunted, and let out a thin wheeze. “Clark. I don’t want him to…the communicator…”

“I’ve got you, Bruce.” Clark murmured. As if Damian would break at the gentlest touch, Clark carefully took the communicator from his hand, and moved to the other side of the rooftop with the other Justice League members who were gathered.

But even with the attempt to get out of his earshot, Damian heard the low rumble of his father screaming in pain. Lois instantly spun him around, embracing him as tight as possible. She held the back of Damian’s head, practically curling around him.

“Don’t listen, sweetheart.” Lois whispered, even as Jon tackled them both from the side. Damian could feel Lois’s own tears dripping into his hair as he clung to her himself. “Just…block it out, okay? Think about…about Alfred. He’ll be here soon. He’ll be here with us soon, and…and…”

Lois rambled for a few minutes, trying anything she could to overpower the sounds that may have carried from the communicator. It didn’t help much, didn’t wipe out the fact of what was happening, even though her voice was louder than the dying of his father, but he appreciated her effort.

About ten minutes later, still cocooned in Lois’s arms, he heard Clark return.

“Alfred will be here by nightfall.” Clark said solemnly. Damian tightened his own grip on Lois.

It was done. His father was dead.

Batman was dead.

Lois held him for a little while longer, and Jon bounced between checking on them and checking on his own father. Eventually, Damian backed out of her arms, quietly requesting a few moments to himself. She nodded, and gave him a sad smile.

He went to one of the lower roofs of the Daily Planet building. Away from the group, the chatter, the strategizing.

Just a few minutes. That’s all he’d need. A few minutes to cry, to mourn, to grieve. Then he’d be back in the mission. Then he’d go back to saving humanity, like his father and brothers always taught him to.

He thought briefly of his mother. She was in Gotham as well. Did she survive? Did she…need help?

She wasn’t a good person, but if he mentioned it to Clark, maybe Superman would help him go find her.

Would she mourn Bruce? Would she give her condolences for Grayson and Drake? Would she care at all?

He heard a bang as he sat there, the creaking of a ladder, bringing him out of his reverie, back to reality. Figured it was Jon coming to check on him already. How long had he been sitting there? He checked the clock in his mask interface.

Oh. It’d already been an hour.

“…I don’t want to talk about it, Jon.” He called, sitting up a little straighter, rubbing the tears from his eyes. “We have more important things to worry about than-”

There was another stomp, and Damian hesitated. It wasn’t coming from the ladder above him, where Jon would have come from.

It was coming from the fire escape over the ledge in front of him. The one that led to the ground.

“Fuck.” He whispered, scrambling to his feet. He sidestepped towards the ladder that went back to the Justice League, keeping his eye on the roof ledge. He couldn’t take that chance, couldn’t take his eyes off the threat.

Another thump, and then a hand appeared over the side. A gloved hand.

A blue-striped, black gloved hand.

“No…” Damian breathed before he could stop himself. His heart sunk, as a second, bloodier black-and-blue hand joined it. “Oh, please no…”

Dick’s head popped over the ledge, and he snarled like a wild animal, blood flicking away from his face. If you could even call it his face anymore. Skin flapped loosely away from his skull, blood poured like a waterfall from an exposed eye socket. Part of his mouth was missing, and it looked like he was grinning.

And Damian was trained since birth. Under the world’s greatest assassins, under Batman. Under the worst and the best. He trained for moments like this. For scenarios like this. He’d jumped to action in life or death situations before, made decisions at the drop of a hat a million times.

But here, he froze.

“Grayson…” He whispered. Dick’s hands just scrambled on the ledge, like he didn’t know how to climb up. “Grayson…i-it’s me.”

Dick just growled, dragging himself forward, pulling himself onto the roof with his sheer strength.

“Focus!” Damian shouted. “You’ve beaten odds like this before!”

Spit mixed with the blood as it dripped down Dick’s throat. He continued forward, his knee just reaching the ledge. As he did, another hand appeared behind it, slapping to find purchase. A mop of black hair bobbed behind it.

Drake.

Damian’s heart was pounding. What were they doing here? Yes, Batman said they were coming to Metropolis but…to this exact spot? To exactly where he was?

Did they…remember him? Did they come here to find him?

He stepped away from the ladder, towards his brothers.

“Grayson?” He breathed. “Drake?”

Tim gave a shriek, all but flipping himself onto the roof. He stumbled to his knees, but kept his forward momentum. Kept crawling at Damian. Dick shuffled forward, eyes shifting to the roof above them.

Oh, right. The Justice League was up there. A Kryptonian, a Green Lantern, and a bunch of other powerful beings.

Full of life.

They weren’t here for him. They didn’t follow him. They followed the meat. Followed the power.

He was just in the way.

He swallowed back his tears and risked turning away, looking for his way up. The ladder was a few feet down the wall, further than he originally thought. He’d have to make a break for it.

So he did.

But he was still small, still young. And his brothers always had that height on him. That long stride.

That speed.

He took two steps, but Tim was already reaching the ladder with a guttural laugh. Damian tried to back away, but in his periphery, he saw Dick running at him, inhaling into those now-forever empty lungs to roar.

Damian ducked his reaching hands, spun away and tried to put distance between them. He slowed at the ledge they’d climbed, and glanced over. A sea of the Anti-Life zombies were below them, all clamoring for that same fire escape.

He was fucked.

But he didn’t have time to dwell on it. Tim was already rushing back at him, clawed hands aimed at his throat. Dick was right behind him, teeth bared.

Damian dodged to the side.

Those tears he tried to swallow came back full force as he ran to the opposite corner. This was life or death. This was the apocalypse. This was the end, if he wasn’t careful.

But.

He wouldn’t lay a hand on his brothers.

And maybe if he were in a better state of mind, maybe if he hadn’t just listened to his father succumb to this very virus, he would have attempted to take on Drake. Would have tried to fight him, if only out of some semblance of mercy.

But Grayson – never.

Damian could never go against Grayson. Not in the way he needed to save his own life, anyway.

So he ran. He took the cowardly way out, and he ran.

But even the Flash stumbled sometimes.

He was trying to distract them. Play tag until he could get them away from the ladder he needed, then scramble up it and make his escape.

He’d just sidestepped Tim again, swerved around those outstretched hands, and was taking off towards the other side of the roof. Just a few more passes, a few more laps, and he should have them far enough-

His boot hit a loose piece of tarpaper. His foot slid out to the side, twisting his knee in an awkward angle and throwing him down onto the roof.

And it was over.

He rolled to his back just as Dick’s hand closed around his throat. As Tim dropped onto his legs.

Damian closed his eyes. It’s okay. It’s okay. He told himself. It’ll be over quick. And then I’ll be with them. Then I’ll be with my family anyway-

“No!”

Damian opened his eyes just in time to see Jon dropping out of the sky, ramming into Tim with such speed that it launched him from the building, and into the wall of the next one, splattering him into nothing more than blood and guts, like he was a fly on a windshield.

Damian blinked, and Clark was there too. His face was cold, angry, terrified as he grabbed Dick by his own throat and yanked him away.

Damian coughed as he tried to sit up, Jon instantly at his side, holding his shoulders.

“S-Superman-”

“I’m sorry.” Clark said as he held Dick up in the air. Dick struggled in his hold, hands reaching up to try and loosen his grip. He was still growling, still shrieking. “I’m so sorry, Dick.”

Without preamble, Clark shoved his fist through Dick’s chest, pulling as many bones and organs out the other side as he could. Then he dragged his arm until it exploded out Dick’s side.

Dick went limp. Damian gasped, and, for the second time that afternoon, forgot how to breathe.

Carefully, Clark laid Dick’s remains on the roof. “I’m so sorry.” He whispered again, as he used his heat vision to cremate what was left.

As soon as the last of him was ash, Clark turned back to Damian, whose eyes were practically bulging out if his mask. He was trembling in Jon’s hands, jaw dropped in shock.

“No…” He whispered, even as Clark walked towards them. Tears fell instantly as Clark collapsed to his knees in front of him, pulling him fiercely into his arms. “No…!”

No one mentioned the blood on Clark’s hands. No one mentioned Dick’s blood on Clark’s hands.

“I’m so sorry.” Clark repeated shakily as Damian sobbed into his chest. “I’m so sorry.”

Damian just shook his head, his trembles increasing by the second. Clark just squeezed his eyes shut and held the boy tighter.

After a moment, Clark blindly reached out, reeling Jon into his arms as well. Held him just as hard.

(Covered him in Dick’s blood too.)

I will not let this virus touch them. Clark told himself. Silently promised to the children in his arms. No matter what it takes.

After a few minutes, Clark silently took to the air, returning the boys to the rooftop, and the care of the Leaguers standing there, and Lois. Lois began pulling the boys from his arms before he even landed.

He glanced at Dinah and Oliver, who nodded. He gave them a grim smile and nodded back, floating back over to take care of the hoard at the bottom of the fire escape, and the fire escape itself.

He glanced towards the other building, to see if there was anything left of Tim Drake. There wasn’t.

When he decided the hoard of zombies was sufficiently culled, he went back to the rooftop. Dinah had built the green mockery of an igloo around Lois and the boys, giving them a sense of peace in this new chaos, a moment alone. She opened a sliver of it as he walked towards them, and closed it after.

The world could wait a little bit.

Jon was sitting on Lois’s lap, Damian next to her. She was holding his hand, and he wasn’t shaking anymore.

Dick’s blood had dried, leaving brown splashes all across his skin and uniform.

His eyes looked dead.

Clark sat next to him and tugged him into his side. Damian came willingly.

“Mind if I stay with you?” Clark whispered. “Just until Alfred gets here.”

“…Until Alfred gets here.” Damian repeated with a dry voice. “Okay.”

Clark carefully leaned down, pressing a kiss to Damian’s hair. “I’m so sorry, Damian.”

“I know.” Damian returned softly. “I know, Superman.”

Clark glanced up at Lois, at his own son. Jon’s eyes were half-lidded, he was already so exhausted. There were still tear tracks on Lois’s face, too. He gave them a grim smile.

This was going to be a long apocalypse.

#Damian Wayne #clark kent #Lois Lane #jon kent #bruce wayne #dick grayson #Tim Drake

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dilfdoctordoom · 4 years

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What do the JL think of Bette? Specifically Barry, Hal, Clark, Arthur, Ollie, and Diana

I very much love that you included two of my favourite characters here.

Barry:

Bette spent many of her formative years in Gotham, so you can bet your ass that this girl is ACAB

Now, I don’t know if you’ve been called a bastard by a thirteen-year-old in a red dress, but Barry Allen has

Life-altering experience

He spends an hour asking Bruce what he did wrong, why does Bat-Girl hate him? He hasn’t even spoken to her yet what could he have done

And Bruce just... the fun explanation that she hates all cops. Instantly. Oh you’re a CSI that must be fun, it doesn’t matter, it’s already on sight for you

Like, okay, in Gotham? Pretty much every cop is dirty. Gordon, Montoya & Bullock are the only ones that Bette knows aren’t & she still doesn’t really trust them

So she’s not gonna be particularly nice to Barry Allen & Bruce literally has to tell her to behave

(Kathy is very amused by it all)

There’s a moment where Barry thinks she just hates speedsters, but then she & Wally seem to be getting on great. Like, Kid Flash is awesome, cool fast guy. Flash is a cop & therefore she cannot trust him

Bat-Girl: I can respect you as a hero but I do not like you as a person

So, yeah, Barry’s, uh, iffy on her. He’s sure she’s a great hero & she seems nice to the others, but he’d really rather not work with her, even when she’s Flamebird/Hawkfire. Especially when she’s Flamebird/Hawkfire, then she’s got tasers & flamethrowers

Hal:

Very different from how she interacts with Barry

Mainly because she first meets Hal after Kathy’s died & she goes to Coast City as part of her whole ‘run away from her emotions’ thing

She’s always loved the beach & Coast is supposed to be so nice. Plus, they’ve got Green Lantern; they’re not gonna need her to suit up, are they?

And then there’s an incident with Manhunters & like, Hal’s got this handled, no doubt about it, but also, Bette is impulsive & has a massive hero complex & yes she does suit up & help out. She does it because it’s right, because she’s angry, just because

But Hal kinda freaks out? Because she’s a kid and yeah, that might fly in Gotham where Batman can keep an eye on her, but oh god, what if he was fighting Sinestro? That’s low key terrifying to him, he doesn’t wanna put a kid in danger

He’s still good with kids. Like, that’s canon, he’s just good with them. So he & Bette do get along & after he gets over the initial ‘please do not fight mass murdering robots you need adult supervision & idk if I qualify for that’, they do actually spend time together!

Mainly because Hal isn’t too comfortable letting a teenage vigilante who just experienced a massive lost be alone & honestly? He’s right. Like, Kathy has just died & Bette threw herself into an extremely dangerous fight... red flags all around, my dudes

So they do work together while she’s in Coast. She only stays a few weeks before she moves on, but she does kinda like Green Lantern?

And the feeling’s mutual. They don’t really keep in contact but Hal keeps an eye on the news to make sure she’s okay & not, uh, dead

They don’t actually meet face to face until a dumb Justice League party years later & then they discover that Bruce finds Hal annoying... he finds the concept of Bette & Hal even being acquaintances annoying... he’s given them the ultimate weapon. Bruce Wayne goes grey earlier and it’s because Hal & Bette spend an entire night pretending that they went on a massive space adventure, full of danger & peril, solely to drive up his blood pressure

Hal doesn’t look into her identity all that much, but thinks she’s fun. Anyone who annoys Bruce for fun is cool in his book

(And I know this is supposed to focus on his feelings about her but consider: Bette meets the Green Lantern of Coast City & he lets her stay in his shitty rundown apartment. Everything that can go wrong for him seems to, but he’s still there, making jokes and saving people and doing the right thing. His willpower keeps him going, even on the darkest of nights and maybe, just maybe, Bette’s stubbornness picked up a little bit of inspiration for somebody along the way)

(And maybe, maybe, she joins the fight against Parallax and realizes just how far her heroes can fall)

Clark:

Um, well, I absolutely headcanon that Clark gave Bette the name Flamebird. Like, told her the story, made a series of not-so-subtle mentions that she should take up the name...

So, yes, Clark knows Bette

She’s Bruce’s cousin, after all, and he’s his best friend. Of course, their paths would cross, especially with how often Clark seemed to work with Batman & Robin when they first started out

He’s worked with her a lot when she’s Bat-Girl & every single time, Bette is starstruck because oh my god, that’s Superman, she’s talking to Superman, she’s working with Superman

He tells her the legend of Nightwing & Flamebird when she’s a kid & she loves the concept of Flamebird. She’s only twelve at the time, but something about it clicks with her

And when she gives up on being Bat-Girl, but is still determined to be a hero, he suggests Flamebird

(Bette absolutely tears up at this)

They don’t really work together when she gets older, except on big, world ending disasters that require the entire Justice League’s attention, but he still sends her one of Ma Kent’s apple pies for the holidays

Clark’s just the cool uncle from when was younger

She stills freaks out a little every time he talks to her, though

She’s never gonna get over knowing Superman

Arthur:

It took me a while to think about this but, yes, Arthur likes Bette

Mainly because Bette is a friend of La’gaan’s. That’s pretty much how he knows her

He doesn’t even know she’s a part of the Batfamily for years, because she’s always seen with the Titans

So, like, he doesn’t really know her that much, but she’s a good friend to one of his sidekicks & La’gaan’s already made passing mentions to crashing at her & Gar’s place, so. Yeah. She got Aquaman’s seal of approval

Though Arthur is always gonna be entertained by how much teasing Flamebird is allowed to get away with. Most of the League may not be aware of her Special Cousin Privilages, he isn’t either, but it’s absolutely hilarious to see her tear into Batman at random

11/10, good friend to La’gaan, very entertaining. Would be better if she could keep a goldfish alive

Ollie:

Okay, so, Ollie is, like, shown to be nicer to the younger heroes, Kyle excluded because he’s dating his son, so she’s gonna be nice to her. Or, at least, Ollie nice. Hm.

He thinks she’s way too small when she first starts out because even when she’s eleven, Bette still looks like she’s nine, but she’s got two heroes looking out for her & with a kid sidekick of his own, he’s not in a place to judge

Aside from one poor team-up between Green Arrow & Speedy and Batwoman & Bat-Girl, where Ollie & Kathy absolutely butted heads, oh my god, they’d hate each other, he didn’t see much of her. He works in Star, she works in Gotham, when are their paths gonna cross

While she works less with most Leaguers the older she gets, she actually ends up working more with Ollie when she’s older

Mainly ‘cause she’s friends with Roy & Cass may be friends with Connor, but that doesn’t mean she can drive so sometimes she’ll get Bette to bring her to Star

Which is honestly what Ollie knows her most as: Batgirl’s older sister who’ll lend a hand whenever she’s in Star

She’s good with kids, efficient & a little showy, but he really can’t judge that last part. Got Roy & Dinah’s stamp of approval, though, & that goes a long way with him

They never, like, exclusively work together, but she’s good to call on in an emergency

He did do a double take when she called Deathstroke ‘uncle’ though because... well, look, at Flamebird. Now look at Deathstroke. Do you see his confusion? It only grows when Slade lets out the most exasperated sigh, mutters something about how he wishes he could kill her without Addie getting mad, and then Bette sticks her tongue out to him & makes some joke about the shitshow he married into

Well. At least his family will never involve Deathstroke

Diana:

Diana gave Bette the shovel talk

This is when DonnaBette is happening & close to figuring out each other’s identities & probably the biggest hint for Bette is Wonder Woman flying down to tell her that if she breaks Wonder Girl’s heart, she’ll have her to answer to

So. Diana’s first impression of Bette is Flamebird having an anerysm on a rooftop in Gotham because she just realized she’s dating Wonder Girl

The absolute dumbassary of DonnaBette, unparalled

Diana likes Bette, thinks she’s probably a great person, but it is her legal job as Donna’s big sister to make it clear that if anything happens to her baby sister, it means war

They end up meeting later, after Donna & Bette have had their mutual break-up, when Diana is working with Kate & Bette is still unable to form a full sentence. Wonder Woman oh my god, oh my god, her brain doesn’t work that’s actual literal Wonder Woman oh my go-

Bruce did later let it slip that after the Maxwell Lord incident, Bette was 100% on Wonder Woman’s side, which she honestly didn’t expect, but eh. Bette’s not as big on the whole no killing as her cousin

Diana mainly knows Bette in the capacity of her being Donna’s girlfriend

Definitely prefers her to some of Donna’s other partners ie Terry because I don’t csre what anyone says, that relationship was trash & I will not pretend that miss Diana Prince was okay with her nineteen-year-old sister dating a divorcee in his thirties that was also her professor

#bette kane #q & a #this is bad but it took me forever so idc

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aion-rsa · 5 years

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The Many Deaths of the Joker

https://ift.tt/2IxLjBw

There have been many stories to kill off the Clown Prince of Crime, but Batman's greatest enemy isn't so easy to get rid of for good.

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In fictional worlds where heroes and villains who can shrug off bullets like they were nothing, there exists “plot armor” for the more ordinary folks. Plot armor is the reason why the Punisher can mosey through a room with an uzi in each hand and somehow kill every single enemy while somehow never getting shot in any vital area. It’s why Stormtroopers have the worst aim and why the red-shirted Enterprise dudes have all the bad luck.

I’m having a hard time coming up with someone with stronger plot armor in comic books than the Joker. Hell, even Frank Castle died at least twice in continuity. The Joker should be dead a million times over, not just due to his injuries, but because with all the lives he’s taken, surely somebody would have murdered him by now. But again, not only does he take vicious beatings, if he isn’t apprehended at the end of a story, he usually falls off a cliff or is at the heart of an explosion or gets hit by a truck.

Then he’s back the next time, no worse for the wear.

While the comics won’t ever truly get rid of him, there are many continuities that have done away with Mr. J. Yet even then, the Joker is never really gone. He tends to haunt and taunt Batman in one way or another via his violent legacy. For someone with such an ill-defined identity, he sure is resilient.

So here's a look at all the times the Joker has died (or apparently died) in comics and on the screen.

Main Comics Continuity

Joker dying in main comics canon is an iffy subject. There have been times when he's been clinically dead, only to be brought back minutes later. Like the time Nightwing beat him within an inch of his life. He's even taken a couple of dips in the Lazarus Pit.

read more: Every DC Comics and Batman Easter Egg in the Joker Movie

But here, let's focus on Joker's second comics appearance. In Detective Comics #64, Joker decides to turn himself in and confess to every one of his crimes. The confused judge sentences him to death. Joker is put in the electric chair and acts like he's got stuff to do so wrap it up, B! Minutes after his death, his goons sneak in, find his body, and inject it with some special kind of serum that awakens the very recently deceased.

Joker pops back up and continues his life of crime. His reasoning? They can't charge him for the stuff he already did! That's double jeopardy!

Tim Burton's Batman

Jack Nicholson’s Joker completely ate it at the end of Tim Burton’s Batman. He fell from a great height while dragged down by a gargoyle. We saw the body. Dude was absolutely dead.

And he stayed that way! After that first movie, the most mention Joker got in that universe was a brief allusion in Batman Forever when Batman told Robin that revenge leads to emptiness.

We almost got a bit more of him, though! Before Batman and Robin ruined the concept of fun and killed that franchise, Joel Schumacher was originally going to do a fifth movie in that universe. Batman Triumphant would have revolved around Scarecrow and Harley Quinn as the new villains. Scarecrow means fear gas and that would have meant Batman getting a hallucination sequence.

What would Batman fear the most? Probably the skin-dyed dirtbag that killed his parents. And so, had the movie existed, we would have had a scene of Jack Nicholson's Joker confronting Batman during a psychological breakdown.

The movie would have been a dumpster fire, but...man, part of me is bummed we never got it.

Similarly, an unused Superman vs. Batman script from the early '00s would have included a plot point where Lex Luthor cloned the Joker to bring him back as part of a scheme to traumatize Bruce Wayne out of retirement and trick him into fighting Superman. Probably the most sensible reason to connect Lex and Joker.

Batman for the NES

Sunsoft made Batman: The Video Game for NES and the story was the general plot of the movie, only with lots and lots of ninjas and robots added because Batman needs something to fight. The ending is roughly the same, though Batman is a bit more cold-blooded. He beats the Joker down, tells him, “You killed my parents,” and then tosses him to his doom. We see Joker’s lifeless corpse and roll credits.

read more: Joker Movie Review

Then a year later, they released Batman: Return of the Joker. The Joker returns with some scheme involving stealing explosive metals and...he’s back. He’s alive again. Somehow. Neither the game nor the manual have any explanation. Just go with it.

Upon further review, both the Genesis and arcade adaptations of the movie make it vague whether or not falling from the top of a cathedral is enough to take out the Joker, so maybe Jack Nicholson's Joker is more resilient than anyone ever realized.

The Dark Knight Strikes Again

Dark Knight Returns features one of the most chilling incarnations of the Joker, who comes out of a catatonic state the moment he finds out Batman is back on the streets. Joker’s killing spree goes farther than the 1980s comic-reading public was used to and Batman ALMOST has it in him to kill the Joker for good. Since killing Joker is neither a horseshoe nor a hand grenade, Joker finishes the job by snapping his own neck and making it look like Batman’s finally gone over the line, thereby making him a prime target of the authorities.

Enduring one massive beating and a fake death (which people regard as “totally beat Superman in a fight” for some reason) later, Batman is fine.

Many years later, Frank Miller made his sequel Dark Knight Strikes Again, otherwise known as, “that mess.” In a story that focuses on Lex Luthor and Brainiac while including lots of DC heroes and Hal Jordan’s dinosaur space penis, the Joker appears a couple of times as a looming threat. He kills the Creeper, Guardian, and even Martian Manhunter while bringing up the mystery of who he could possibly be.

read more: The Secrets of the Joker Movie

Joker II shows up at the end of the comic as a kind of final boss showdown. He is, in fact, Dick Grayson, whose only mention in the original story was not being on speaking terms with Bruce. As the story goes, Batman fired him for being an incompetent whiner once upon a time and rather than celebrate being free of the lunatic that is Miller Batman, Dick instead went a bit mad and allowed Luthor and Brainiac to give him shape-shifting/quick-healing powers.

Even though he’s capable of surviving decapitations and the like, Joker II is eventually done in by getting knocked into some lava. Can’t heal if there’s nothing left of you.

Justice League: The Nail

Back in the late-90s, Alan Davis and Mark Farmer put together a three-issue Elseworlds story called The Nail. This “what if” tale shows how the DC Universe would have formed had Superman’s rocket not been discovered by the Kents. Without Superman as a symbol, metahumans aren’t exactly looked upon with love and astonishment. It’s more of an X-Men deal where the public’s mood is, “Thanks for saving the world...I guess.”

As part of the comic’s big villain conspiracy (and I won’t spoil who’s behind everything), the Joker is armed with a pair of gauntlets made from Kryptonian tech. They make him virtually unstoppable and he proceeds to liberate Arkham Asylum and then make the Bat-villains fight each other to the death for his amusement. Batman, Robin, and Batgirl appear and Alan Davis finally answers the question, “What would it take for Batman to murder the Joker?”

The answer: have the Joker use his telekinetic gauntlets to slowly and painfully tear Robin and Batgirl to pieces while forcing Batman to watch. Jesus. Yeah. That’ll do it.

With some assistance from Catwoman, Batman’s able to free himself, damage the gauntlets and snap Joker’s neck. While the public display and selective context makes the Justice League look bad, nobody takes the incident harder than Batman himself. Both the graphic deaths of his sidekicks and the realization that he murdered a man sends him to the brink of sanity. It’s the comfort of Catwoman, who becomes Batwoman, that keeps him from falling apart.

read more: The Actors Who Have Played the Joker

Regardless, once the story is over, Batman gives himself up to the police. He’s acquitted of murder charges, but chooses to leave the Justice League.

Several years later, we get Another Nail, which basically exists to give upbeat closure to a story that had a bunch of downers. Batman continues to fight crime in Gotham, but he starts hearing the Joker’s laughter. Due to the convoluted plot of the miniseries, things are screwy with the afterlife and the Joker is able to escape Hell.

Threatening to kill Batwoman, Joker – who has Carnage-like powers – fights Batman. Batman attempts to sacrifice himself by tackling Joker back to Hell, but the spririts of Robin and Batgirl rescue him. Batman finally decides to get on with his life and rejoin the Justice League.

Kingdom Come

The Joker’s death in Kingdom Come is a major turning point for society. After Joker murders Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and a lot of other people at the Daily Planet, he’s apprehended by the police. We’ll never know how Superman would have instinctively dealt with his loss since new superhero hotness and Cable pastiche Magog stops by to vaporize the handcuffed Joker.

Magog is put on trial, everyone and their mother is pretty okay with the Joker being murdered in any way, and Superman leaves in a huff. This causes a new dawn of “superheroism” where it’s less about heroism and more about people in cool costumes getting into fights with no care for anything but themselves. You know, kind of like a Zack Snyder movie.

While the Joker doesn’t come back from the dead, he does inspire one troublemaker to become the new Joker’s Daughter (otherwise known as Harlequin). Although we never get much on her, as she’s mostly a recurring background character, she represents the chaotic world where the mighty can do what they want while the weak are left deal with the consequences.

read more: How Joaquin Phoenix Became the Joker

It does remind me that one of the most clever moments in the whole comic is when Batman betrays Lex Luthor and admits to only joining up with him in the first place in order to see what Shazam’s deal was. As he puts it, Shazam is a wild card and if there’s anything Batman hates, it’s a wild card.

Love that.

Batman Beyond

Batman: The Animated Series is arguably better than sliced bread and its dark future Batman Beyond wasn’t bad either. Despite taking place years in the future, the writers were stingy on the details of what became of a lot of the old guard. While we got to see what became of Mr. Freeze and Bane, bigger deal characters like Robin and Joker were glazed over.

At most, during the show’s run, we saw that the Joker was replaced with an ever-changing circus-themed gang called the Jokerz. That was cool and all and fits into the nature of this list, but Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker went even further.

read more: The Best Episodes of Batman Beyond

In the dying days of the Animated Series era, the Joker kidnapped and tortured Tim Drake Robin. He warped the poor boy, made him squeal about Batman’s secret identity, and then transformed him into a giggling child version of the Joker. Depending on which version you watch, Tim would get his revenge by either shooting Joker in the chest or electrocuting him to death.

In the Beyond era, the Joker appears yet again, making the futuristic Batman Terry McGuiness question the many ways that’s possible. In the end, the Joker turns out to be Tim Drake, unknowingly taken over by a secret implant that transforms him into having the Joker’s DNA and personality. Terry is able to put an end to this Joker by frying the implant with an electric joy buzzer.

Batman: Digital Justice

Speaking of the future, there’s this Elseworlds taking place towards the end of the 21st century. While the Joker presumably died of old age, considering Batman retired, he lives on in the form of a sentient computer virus and...

For God's sake, look at that thing. Actually, better idea, let’s not. Just...next entry.

Batman: Red Rain

Throughout the '90s, Doug Moench and Kelley Jones did a trilogy of Elseworlds stories based on the very simple high concept of Batman being a literal "bat man." In the story Red Rain, Batman gets bitten by a vampire and fights Dracula. It’s pretty rad. Batman wins and Dracula’s dead for good.

A couple of years later, they did a sequel called Bloodstorm, which is based on the very human Joker leading Dracula’s horde for the sake of taking over the criminal underworld. Vampire Batman teams up with Selina Kyle, who also goes literal by being a werecat. Selena’s love is the only thing keeping Batman from going all-you-can-eat-buffet, so once Joker kills her with a crossbow, Batman has nothing left to keep him in check. Although part of him tries to fight it, he still powers through multiple crosses and holy water to snap Joker’s neck and feed on his blood.

Being that Batman is the smartest dude, he knows to shove a stake through Joker’s heart just in case...because Vampire Joker is the last thing we need.

It’s moot, since not only has Batman killed his rival, but he’s given into his vampire instincts. He has his buds Alfred and Commissioner Gordon stake him to prevent any further benders.

read more: Creating a New Joker Origin Story

Those two, unfortunately, never got around to removing his head, so despite being rendered immobile, Batman is still kicking. A few months later, Alfred removes the stake because Alfred is dumb as hell in this world. Not only does Batman have a taste for blood while being driven insane from months of his body rotting, but it’s implied a few times that ingesting Joker’s specific blood makes him even more out-of-control.

Yeah, things do NOT end well for any named character in that final chapter.

Batman 666

During Grant Morrison’s lengthy run on Batman’s comics, he wrote a one-off story in Batman #666 that depicts Damian Wayne as a more ruthless Batman in the future who may or may not have sold his soul to the actual devil. There are two alternate follow-ups to this story. One of which has Damian adopt and raise Terry McGinnis, leading to a take on the Batman Beyond era.

Then there’s a path where everything goes wrong. The Joker has died and while we don’t know the details, we do know that the madman had his own failsafe. In his death, he releases a virus that transforms its victims into Joker-like monsters, like a clown version of 28 Days Later.

Damian Batman finds a baby who appears to be immune to the virus, but his attempts to use the child to create a cure leads to disaster when he discovers that the baby is merely a carrier. Overwhelmed by infected clown people, Damian watches in horror as Gotham is nuked to contain the outbreak.

I think I like the first future better.

The Arkham Games

In the Rocksteady Arkham trilogy, Joker suffers from injecting himself with Titan, an upgraded version of the Venom drug that gives Bane his strength. In the aftermath, he’s dying, so he figures he’ll inject his own poisoned blood into Batman’s veins to push Batman into finding a cure. I’m guessing Joker saw that episode of South Park where Cartman had AIDS and had a moment of inspiration.

Though Batman cures himself, Joker shivs him. Either because he thinks Batman’s going to leave him to die or because shivving seemed like a good idea at the moment. That makes Batman drop the antidote and Joker succumbs to illness and dies, laughing at Batman’s claim that he was totally about to give him the antidote after all.

Then in Arkham Knight, we discover that having Joker blood in your system plus breathing in Scarecrow’s fear toxin transforms you into superhero Fight Club. Joker appears in visions while Batman (and some other soon-to-be-dead saps who also have Joker blood) gradually becomes Joker-like in behavior and appearance.

Batman ultimately wins out by turning the two infections against each other and confronting Joker with his own fear: being dead and forgotten. Batman goes back to normal and gets back to his mission of handing Scarecrow a knuckle sandwich.

Gotham

Batman prequel Gotham features Jerome Valeska, as played by Cameron Monaghan. Jerome is what I’d call the How I Met Your Mother of Jokers. He’s the Joker, but not really. The narrative plays up that he's either the actual Joker, he'll somehow create the Joker, or he's just thematically the Joker.

For all intents and purposes, he’s the Joker. Until he isn't. And then it's revealed that actually his twin brother is the Joker. Don't ask. Gotham is bonkers.

The charismatic psychopath and showman is killed off early in the second season during an attempt on the life of the adolescent Bruce Wayne. He gets stabbed in the neck by Theo Galavan in an act of betrayal, but dies with blood covering his lips as he smiles. Various people watch footage of Jerome on TV and go into giggling fits, including two guys who laughingly murder a homeless person, then turn on each other.