Jokerz

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In the DC Animated Universe ("DCAU"), the Jokerz are a street gang 50 years in the future of Gotham City that take their inspiration from the present day fictional villain and nemesis of Batman, namely the Joker. They tend to dress in clownish costumes and makeup as did their namesake (although a few like Bonk and Ghoul dress more like goths), 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 Terry McGinnis's (Batman II) father's murder in Rebirth, the two-part pilot of the animated series. Their leader is J-Man, voiced by DCAU creator Bruce Timm, is dressed similar to the Joker.

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 then-dead Joker himself, 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 at a point prior to his villainous activities.

[edit] Trivia

• The Jokerz are known to be rivals of another street gang known as the T's.
• The Jokerz were inspired by the biker gang known as the Clowns from the anime film Akira. The leader of the Clowns called himself Joker.
• In the series episode Joyride the Jokerz are shown initiating a new member. The initiation involves an abandoned mine shaft. During the sequence the lead Joker 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 very likely that these skeletal remains belong to the real Joker and visiting them is part of becoming a member of the Jokerz.

[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) - executed by Drake/Joker with either a Joker-venom smeared mini-flagpole shot into his heart (original animated version) or an off-screen dose of Joker-venom (edited animated version).
  • 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.
• Dee & Dee (Melissa Joan Hart) - identical twin grandaughters of Harley Quinn, use an acrobatics-based fighting style very similar to Harley's.
• Ghoul (Michael Rosenbaum) - 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.
• Woof (Frank Welker) - genetically spliced with animal DNA, rendering him half hyena.
  • Former bosses of this team included
• Tim Drake/Joker (Mark Hamill)
• Chronos