Six months after the incident, it became abundantly clear to the Joker that something had gone horribly wrong. As a result of his Titan injection, he became deathly ill. Not wanting to appear weak before his rivals, he had himself put into solitary confinement by brutally murdering another inmate, and arranged for Harley to break him out when he was to be transferred to Arkham City. She pulled that off, though in the ensuing police chase, the psychotic pair wound up fleeing into Arkham City by accident. Professor Hugo Strange, the psychiatrist in charge of the massive prison, desired to meet with the Clown Prince of Crime, seeking to learn more about him. The two made a deal – Strange would give the Joker access to high-grade government weapons and try to find a cure for the Joker’s illness, while Strange got the opportunity to study the Joker. This was a disguise for Strange’s true motives – he planned to use the chaos that the Joker would inevitably cause as an excuse for putting Protocol Ten, a plan to kill all of Gotham’s criminals, into action.
After his deal with Strange, Joker was thrown into Arkham City, and quickly set up a base in the Sionis Steel Mill. It did not take long, however, for the Joker to wind up embroiled in a gang war; the Penguin still held a grudge against the Joker, and Two Face also sought to gain power over Arkham City. However, the Joker could not afford to appear weak at a time like this, and ordering his troops around through Harley would only work for so long before someone got curious. Thankfully, he managed to get into contact with Basil Karlo, also known as the shapeshifter Clayface. Clayface had broken out of Arkham Asylum by impersonating Warden Sharp and waiting for an unknowing police officer to find him, and his abilities allowed him to be virtually anonymous. As such, he was reluctant to work for someone as unstable as the Joker, until he found out that the Joker wanted the mudman to act as his body double. Wanting to take on “the role of a lifetime”, Clayface accepted, acting as the Joker to help him keep up appearances. As well, in an attempt to increase the chances of being cured, the Joker arranged to have the wife of Mr. Freeze, Nora, kidnapped – with Strange’s help – in order to motivate Freeze to work on a cure. However, this was simply to further Strange’s own ends; the professor also gave the Penguin advanced weaponry and handed Mr. Freeze over to the diminutive megalomaniac, which prompted the Joker to retaliate with all-out gang warfare.
By the time that Batman enters Arkham City and catches up with him, the Joker appears to be dead – however, this is another ruse on the villainous harlequin’s part, as it is simply a trap to knock Batman out, strap him to a chair, and inject him with the Joker’s own blood. Now, with the madman’s poisoned blood racing through him, and having found out that the Joker has sent bags of his blood to every hospital in Gotham, Batman is forced to race against time to find a cure for Joker’s disease, before he dies as well.
Batman manages to free Mister Freeze from the Penguin’s clutches – however, despite Batman’s help, Freeze is still unable to complete the Joker’s cure without a particular enzyme. That enzyme, unknown to Freeze, can be found in the Lazarus Pits – the method that the terrorist Ra’s al-Ghul uses to render himself immortal. An encounter with one of Ra’s’ henchmen leads him to Talia al-Ghul – Batman’s former lover, and Ra’s’ daughter – and Ra’s himself, and he quickly returns to Freeze. However, Freeze prioritizes saving his wife before anything else, forcing Batman to fight him. In the confusion, Harley steals the cure, forcing Batman to head back to the Steel Mill for any hope of salvation.
Now apparently cured, the Joker feels that Batman betrayed him by taking so long to deliver the cure to him, and wants him dead. During Batman’s trek through the Steel Mill, Strange puts Protocol Ten into place – with the increasingly aggressive nature of the Joker’s gang, manipulated by Strange himself, Professor Strange convinces the city council that all of Arkham City needs to be destroyed – wiping out Gotham’s criminal element, the political prisoners who he had thrown into Arkham City for knowing too much, and Batman, all in one fell swoop. In this backdrop, the Joker and Batman fight, with the Joker calling forth an army of goons and Titan-infected henchmen to assist him. Though Batman overcomes all of this, the bombing caused by Protocol Ten buries Batman in rubble and leaves him barely conscious. The Joker is about to kill Batman when Talia, who had followed Batman, appears, and makes a deal with the Joker. If he spares Batman, she will bring him to the Lazarus Pit, granting him immortality. The Joker is hesitant at first, but Batman telling Talia to not do it convinces him that there is some truth to what she’s saying.
Though Batman wants to save Talia, stopping Protocol Ten proves to be the more pressing matter. It isn’t until after Batman gets to Strange, defeats him, and calls off the bombardment that the Joker contacts Batman again, telling him to come to the Monarch Theater. Though the Joker doesn’t know it, this is the same place where Batman’s parents were shot, making it especially significant for the Dark Knight. Once Batman has entered the theater, however, the Joker demands his cure, in spite of appearing healthy. In the confusion, Talia stabs the Joker and reveals the truth – she had intercepted Harley Quinn and took the cure so that, when the opportunity presented itself, she could give it to Batman.
Moments later, a gunshot rings through the theater, as Talia is shot in the back. The Joker, appearing sicker than ever, his entire body one giant rash, is sitting in the balcony, having followed Talia, the other Joker, and Batman to the theater. He then reveals his ruse – he had Clayface imitate him during the entire time that he appeared to be cured. Now that he knows that the Lazarus Pit will prolong his life, he plans to take a dip in it, and then march into Gotham with an army made up of basically every criminal within Arkham City, armed with the weapons given to him by Strange, along more Titan-infected monsters and the virtually-invulnerable Clayface, and absolutely destroy everything that gets in his way.
…And it’s at that point that he’ll be brought to Luceti. Fun stuff, huh?
As a side note, since the topic will come up eventually: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City are unclear as to whether or not other superheroes exist. Hugo Strange mentions that once Arkham City is successful, he will set up similar facilities in Metropolis and Keystone City. On one hand, such facilities would be pointless if Superman and the Flash were in these cities to prevent crimes. On the other hand, this could simply be another sign of Strange’s arrogance. Though any further sequels could disprove whatever speculation I could make, I’ll assume that other heroes do exist, but they usually stick to their own cities, and that the Joker would have heard of the major ones (Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and maybe Green Lantern), if only vaguely.
History, Part 2
After his deal with Strange, Joker was thrown into Arkham City, and quickly set up a base in the Sionis Steel Mill. It did not take long, however, for the Joker to wind up embroiled in a gang war; the Penguin still held a grudge against the Joker, and Two Face also sought to gain power over Arkham City. However, the Joker could not afford to appear weak at a time like this, and ordering his troops around through Harley would only work for so long before someone got curious. Thankfully, he managed to get into contact with Basil Karlo, also known as the shapeshifter Clayface. Clayface had broken out of Arkham Asylum by impersonating Warden Sharp and waiting for an unknowing police officer to find him, and his abilities allowed him to be virtually anonymous. As such, he was reluctant to work for someone as unstable as the Joker, until he found out that the Joker wanted the mudman to act as his body double. Wanting to take on “the role of a lifetime”, Clayface accepted, acting as the Joker to help him keep up appearances. As well, in an attempt to increase the chances of being cured, the Joker arranged to have the wife of Mr. Freeze, Nora, kidnapped – with Strange’s help – in order to motivate Freeze to work on a cure. However, this was simply to further Strange’s own ends; the professor also gave the Penguin advanced weaponry and handed Mr. Freeze over to the diminutive megalomaniac, which prompted the Joker to retaliate with all-out gang warfare.
By the time that Batman enters Arkham City and catches up with him, the Joker appears to be dead – however, this is another ruse on the villainous harlequin’s part, as it is simply a trap to knock Batman out, strap him to a chair, and inject him with the Joker’s own blood. Now, with the madman’s poisoned blood racing through him, and having found out that the Joker has sent bags of his blood to every hospital in Gotham, Batman is forced to race against time to find a cure for Joker’s disease, before he dies as well.
Batman manages to free Mister Freeze from the Penguin’s clutches – however, despite Batman’s help, Freeze is still unable to complete the Joker’s cure without a particular enzyme. That enzyme, unknown to Freeze, can be found in the Lazarus Pits – the method that the terrorist Ra’s al-Ghul uses to render himself immortal. An encounter with one of Ra’s’ henchmen leads him to Talia al-Ghul – Batman’s former lover, and Ra’s’ daughter – and Ra’s himself, and he quickly returns to Freeze. However, Freeze prioritizes saving his wife before anything else, forcing Batman to fight him. In the confusion, Harley steals the cure, forcing Batman to head back to the Steel Mill for any hope of salvation.
Now apparently cured, the Joker feels that Batman betrayed him by taking so long to deliver the cure to him, and wants him dead. During Batman’s trek through the Steel Mill, Strange puts Protocol Ten into place – with the increasingly aggressive nature of the Joker’s gang, manipulated by Strange himself, Professor Strange convinces the city council that all of Arkham City needs to be destroyed – wiping out Gotham’s criminal element, the political prisoners who he had thrown into Arkham City for knowing too much, and Batman, all in one fell swoop. In this backdrop, the Joker and Batman fight, with the Joker calling forth an army of goons and Titan-infected henchmen to assist him. Though Batman overcomes all of this, the bombing caused by Protocol Ten buries Batman in rubble and leaves him barely conscious. The Joker is about to kill Batman when Talia, who had followed Batman, appears, and makes a deal with the Joker. If he spares Batman, she will bring him to the Lazarus Pit, granting him immortality. The Joker is hesitant at first, but Batman telling Talia to not do it convinces him that there is some truth to what she’s saying.
Though Batman wants to save Talia, stopping Protocol Ten proves to be the more pressing matter. It isn’t until after Batman gets to Strange, defeats him, and calls off the bombardment that the Joker contacts Batman again, telling him to come to the Monarch Theater. Though the Joker doesn’t know it, this is the same place where Batman’s parents were shot, making it especially significant for the Dark Knight. Once Batman has entered the theater, however, the Joker demands his cure, in spite of appearing healthy. In the confusion, Talia stabs the Joker and reveals the truth – she had intercepted Harley Quinn and took the cure so that, when the opportunity presented itself, she could give it to Batman.
Moments later, a gunshot rings through the theater, as Talia is shot in the back. The Joker, appearing sicker than ever, his entire body one giant rash, is sitting in the balcony, having followed Talia, the other Joker, and Batman to the theater. He then reveals his ruse – he had Clayface imitate him during the entire time that he appeared to be cured. Now that he knows that the Lazarus Pit will prolong his life, he plans to take a dip in it, and then march into Gotham with an army made up of basically every criminal within Arkham City, armed with the weapons given to him by Strange, along more Titan-infected monsters and the virtually-invulnerable Clayface, and absolutely destroy everything that gets in his way.
…And it’s at that point that he’ll be brought to Luceti. Fun stuff, huh?
As a side note, since the topic will come up eventually: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City are unclear as to whether or not other superheroes exist. Hugo Strange mentions that once Arkham City is successful, he will set up similar facilities in Metropolis and Keystone City. On one hand, such facilities would be pointless if Superman and the Flash were in these cities to prevent crimes. On the other hand, this could simply be another sign of Strange’s arrogance. Though any further sequels could disprove whatever speculation I could make, I’ll assume that other heroes do exist, but they usually stick to their own cities, and that the Joker would have heard of the major ones (Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and maybe Green Lantern), if only vaguely.