Jokerz
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The Jokerz are fictional characters in the DC animated universe, featured in Batman Beyond.
They are a large 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.
The Jokerz are known to be rivals of another street gang known as the T's.
Appearances
In the animated series Batman Beyond, Batman battled different versions of the gang on several occasions. In a Justice League Unlimited episode the member Ghoul stated that there are 9,453 active Jokerz that are divided into approximately 200 separate groups (It's unlikely that Chronos affected the large amount considering that he only hired one gang of the Jokerz). 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' father in "Rebirth", the two-part pilot of the animated series. Their leader is J-Man, who dresses in a style similar to the Joker and 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.
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.
The last appearance of the Jokerz was in the Justice League Unlimited episode "The Once and Future Thing, Part 2." In this episode, the group of Jokerz from Return of the Joker are shown to be working for a time-traveling villain called David Clinton, known in the comics as the Atom's archnemesis, Chronos. This team of Jokerz has been enhanced with super-powers and/or cybernetic enhancements that Clinton pulled from the future, and Bonk, who was murdered by the Joker in Return of the Joker, is part of the group. This group of Jokerz has killed most of the Justice League of that time, leaving only Static, Warhawk, that timeline's Batman, and an elderly Bruce Wayne. The present-day Batman, Green Lantern John Stewart and Wonder Woman chase Clinton to this future, and were able stop Clinton and undo the damage he did to the timestream, erasing all of the events of the episode.
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.
Members
Band I:
- J-Man (Bruce Timm) - Dresses very similarly to the original Joker. Bruce Timm is the producer for the DCAU shows, and joked in DVD Commentary that his performance as J-Man was 'Emmy-Award winning material'
- Coe (Scott Valentine)
- Scab (Marc Worden) - Wears a red, single-coned jester's cap, possibly inspired by Harley Quinn.
- Top Hat (Bruce Timm) - Wears an outfit that is similar to the DCAU version of The Penguin
Band II:
- Terminal (Michael Rosenbaum)
- Trey (Omar Gooding)
- Watkins (Michael Tucker)
Band III:
The third band of Jokers was introduced in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, where they worked for what appeared to be the original Joker. They later appeared in an episode of Justice League Unlimited, now working for Chronos and enhanced with super powers. When Chronos is defeated, this timeline is erased.
- Bonk (Henry Rollins) - A powerful, but surly enforcer / muscleman in the Jokerz' ranks. Though amazingly strong, Bonk is not a thug who takes orders willingly (especially if it has to do with swiping what he calls "a lot of geek junk" instead of cash). He's got a hair-trigger, and is liable to start up with anyone who gets in his way, be it Batman or Bonk's own Jokerz allies. This is his undoing when he 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 appears during the Justice League Unlimited multi-part episode The Once and Future Thing (voiced by Adam Baldwin), equipped with a massive hammer that comes out of his arm. He's able to deliver massive damage with this weapon. The events of this episode are erased from the time stream.
- Chucko (Original credited as Laughing Boy in Return of the Joker (Don Harvey) - obese, with tight-fitting pink clothes and a clown mask. He is a nasty bullying type who truly enjoys inflicting misery on others. A head enforcer for the Jokerz gang, he's a lot stronger and faster than his flabby gut would lead one to believe. True to his sadistic nature, Chucko's face is always hidden behind his mocking clown mask (Aside from the heist at Wayne Enterprises, where he was wearing a gas mask). He uses a bazooka as a weapon. An alternate-time stream version of 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. He appears here with a hovering ball instead of his normal legs and carries a lightsaber-like object. The ball offers more maneuverability than he previously had with his legs and the saber adds extra "oomph."
- Dee-Dee (Melissa Joan Hart) - the identical twin granddaughters of Harley Quinn. Delia and Deidre Dennis, (often referred to by the collective name "Dee-Dee" or simply, "the Deeds") are cute, charming, funny, and completely rotten to the core. They love the thrill of being a part of the Jokerz gang and think it's a large charge to be working for the big man himself, The Joker. They use an acrobatics-based fighting style very similar to Harley's. They fight in unison, acting almost like one person controlling two bodies, even finishing each others sentences. They are imprisoned at the end of Return of the Joker, but bailed out by Harley Quinn, whom they refer to as "Nana Harley." They appear in Justice League Unlimited with the power to multiply themselves upon impact. They also carry an energy whip which electrocutes the victim on contact. This whip is what led to Terry's alternate death.Though this timeline is erased and Terry coninues to live.
- 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. A jaded young runaway from a wealthy home, Ghoul joined up with the Jokerz for kicks. He's heavily into techno-goth music and has adapted the horror look into his costume. Ghoul is never without his plastic Halloween pumpkin which he keeps filled with a number of monster-inspired weapons and tricks. Ghoul eventually returned with a spinning blade in his right arm which he can deploy or retract at will. It is also revealed in this episode that he wet the bed until he was 14.
- Woof (Frank Welker) - Woof was just a nameless underling in the Jokerz gang until he decided to try gene-splicing. Infusing his cellular structure with that of a spotted hyena, Woof quickly transformed (some say devolved) into the giggling, bestial, nightmare that he is today. Though he sometimes appears to be nothing more than the Jokerz comical mascot, Woof's crushing jaws, sharp teeth and razor-like claws make him a deadly adversary. He appears in Chronos' time stream with cybernetic arms which allow him to run faster than he previously could. The arms are also able to gouge materials as hard as concrete and steel, as they are sharper and sturdier than his claws once were.