My First Big Theory Post: Original Three Jokers Theory (December 2018)
This post was the very first big theory post I made. Originally posted on the DC comics subreddit and later in Comicvine. The latter having more images.
Some Background:
I still remember reading Darkseid War when Bruce first learned this with the Mobius Chair. I remember when it was announced much later. I was very much intrigued and did theorizing in my own time. I'm no stranger to fan theories but I rarely made my own and never shared them with anyone other than friends IRL.
Being in the last years of high school and being busy with tons of extracurricular activities, I commuted a lot but didn't have mobile data so in boredom I typed some notes on my phone while waiting for the bus and stuff like that. I also travelled with my family in vacations so I did that on plane rides. Eventually I thought, what the heck, why not. I'd have already made a reddit account and a Comicvine one back when it was more active.
As you can see, it's a lot less organized and thought out as my later posts. My theories would evolve, along with how I'd make these kinds of posts, but it all started here. It didn't quite get as much as attention as my later ones, and for good reason, but without this the rest wouldn't have come to be. Especially the Three Jokers posts that did get a lot of attention which ended up bringing back and improving this.
Looking back, while I got a lot of things wrong, I also got a lot of things right. If you're interested to see I welcome you to read this. I apologize for the even messy formatting.
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My Theory on the Three Jokers
So I’ve been taking down notes and making a theory on Geoff Johns’ Three Jokers for a while now. It’s mostly based off of the concept art from SD and NY CCs, my own rereadings of older material and some other sites detailing his history. I’ve read other theories and a lot of them I agree with, a lot of them I don’t agree with, but none of them are exactly like my own and honestly I thought I could do better with a lot more research, re reading and some help from some those other theories. All references I used will be at the end.
I know a lot of people don’t like this concept and I myself think there are alternatives to it. In fact I’m a fan of Grant Morrison’s “Super Sane” concept as well. However with my theory it’s possible to have both. Before I go on though, not to bring up the obvious but this only applies to in continuity Jokers and by that I mean all Jokers appearing outside of comic books (DCAU, movies, the Arkham and Telltale games etc.) or in stories that are intended to be non-canon (TDKR,) don’t apply. I will however bring them up for comparison as most of them like to mix up traits or base most of them on one Joker.
Note that I am going to make this theory on the assumption that there are literally three Jokers as stated by Geoff and also because this would be even longer if I make this a metaphorical thing as how different characters see the Joker differently. I’ll also address how come there became 3 Jokers instead of one in the first place and how they may be either merged back into 1, or how only 1 may remain.
I. First:
What are the differences between each Joker and what does their character designs imply about them? (Note from this point forward I will be referring to each Joker as shown in the NYCC concept art)
Joker 3 is
The Criminal Mastermind (Clown Prince of Crime)
driven by his ego in that he desires to prove that he is the ultimate criminal master mind who is the only one capable of being intellectually superior to Batman, who he sees as his greatest rival who he cannot bring to defeat in an ordinary manner. He wants to defeat his nemesis in a manner that proves his ultimate victory. He uses planning, cunning and genius to pull of his crimes which involve a lot of stealing as well. He’s a true cold blooded, evil psychopath.
Psychopaths aren’t insane, in fact they’re the closest to the real life equivalent of “super sane”. Insanity would imply mental illness, delusion or disconnection from reality that causes inability to differentiate right and wrong. Psychopaths are the reverse in that they do recognize right from wrong as believed by experts in the field but their rationality is unburdened by conscience and empathy. This unrestricted mindset combined with his intelligence makes him a deceptive genius, one who only fakes insanity to keep himself immune to the law (which is similar to how Paul Dini and Alex Ross portrayed Joker in “Case Study” from Batman: Black and White). Similarly Syndrome E (basically, Psychology’s term for evil) may also be diagnosed to him as he shows signs of all symptoms but fully retains his intelligence and skills. He is completely mentally competent. I rather not dive into that Syndrome much as that would lead to a much longer analysis.
All in all however, there is something quite insidious about this Joker. There is a method to his madness, a subtlety to his strategy and a purpose to his theatricality. While his ego makes him want people to recognize him as the best, he prefers to plot behind the scenes and perhaps let the other Jokers commit crimes in his name, using them to hide his identity, keep his opponent’s guessing on his true nature and just be unstoppable. He is as much the Clown Prince of Crime as Moriarty is the Napoleon of Crime.
This Joker’s character design is based heavily on his original appearance design, by the colors and hair, and the original Red Hood design for his suit which I will discuss again later.
The colors denote a simpler Joker who is truly evil to the core with his black bow tie and white shirt showing no gray area in his works. He always has an ulterior motive when helping others when it seems he is there to help such as when he “helped” the Weeper but ultimately did so to betray him and further went back and forth, seemingly revealing himself to be doing so for altruistic reasons only to go back on it. The widow’s peak paired with a receding hairline imply an older, more experienced and much more intelligent Joker. Note that instead of the usual pine-stripe suit with tailcoat which the Joker wore even in the early golden age, he wears a more tuxedo looking suit with a lapel noticeably different from the others. This suit and lapel however matches that of the Red Hood’s original design in Detective Comics #168. Not Zero Year, not Case Study, not Killing Joke, the ORIGINAL Red Hood comic which may have either literal or symbolic implications for his origin as will be discussed later. Overall however this does fit with his character as the original Red Hood story established him as someone aiming to steal a million dollars for retirement only to continue his life of crime when he saw his own face, inspiring him to become the ambitious criminal we know him as. This Red Hood constantly fought on even terms with Batman mentally and was never truly caught, well, until he became the Joker that is. Lastly, the addition of another jacket or overcoat may seem to not mean much as the Joker has worn overcoats with hats before but I think this is to make his look closer to Golden Age/Classical Joker while still giving him the Red Hood suit.
Joker 2 is
The Irrational Lunatic (Jester of Chaos)
who only wants to have fun in his own twisted way and sees Batman as his playmate in this mad game. He’s always changing how he works but the inconsistency only adds to his irrationality. His plans makes sense to him alone which makes him highly unpredictable. He revels in chaos but he does not necessarily have a real agenda or a point to prove so he’s not necessarily an anarchist in a political sense.
He doesn’t truly hate or want to kill Batman as he sees him as what completes him as his perfect rival but to him it’s not fun if he can’t put up a fight and save himself which is why he does try to kill him (illogical? Yup). He’s the most obsessed with him, bordering on affection. He believes that his family only makes Batman weaker. He doesn’t care who Batman is, was or how he came to be. This is the super sane Joker who constantly reinvents himself.
He loves to be in the spotlight getting people’s attention. This is why he does his crazy, over the top crimes. Things like, poisoning fish to trademark them (laughing fish), obtaining diplomatic immunity from foreign countries (A Death in the Family) and just straight up running for governor (Dark Detective). His delusional view of his relationship with Batman and his outlandish schemes makes him the most insane. Despite this the constant changes in persona shows something else entirely which is explained by Grant Morrison’s take on “Super Sanity”. His crimes at times can be akin to pranks which have varying levels of lethality depending on his current persona. They can come across as petty at times but the point is he enjoys them and only commits those that his twisted sense of humor sees as “funny” (just like his claim in Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader) and not just randomly like what some some fans and some writers think.
This Joker’s character design is the most iconic and recognizable. The hair and face makes him look younger and more energetic and wilder than the others. His eyes have the most crazed look compared to the others as well. Interestingly while his hair has a Superman looking s-curl it also shaped in way that almost gives him devil horns. This means he too uses deception. The color of his jacket is also closer to the Cesar Romero Cyan colored suit than the classic purple as compared with the other Jokers. The flower on his lapel is obviously a fake that either squirts acid, Joker venom or gas. This implies he’s the one responsible for the gag items and gadgets that the three uses that have a varying level of lethality. The pants are larger than his size, baggy and reach his stomach, they almost look like pajamas or clown pants. The green shirt with tie is something the Joker had from the Golden through the silver ages. These similarities and overlaps along with his position in the concept art released in SDCC lead me to think that he is quite close to Joker 3, perhaps an apprentice, imitator, or brother. Despite this clear differences are shown in that he IS insane, he’s younger, more enthusiastic and over the top which clash with his attempts to be deceptive similar to the self contradictions and inconsistencies in his character which may be a result of him constantly reinventing himself either to adapt, to further become like Joker 3, or to differentiate himself from him and 1.
Joker 1 is
The Tragic Nihilist (Harlequin of Hate)
Who experienced pain and grief through one bad day and being the Joker is both his way of coping with the absurd injustice of reality and his way of sending a message about the world and humanity. His relationship and view of Batman is by far the most complicated with just as much hate as love. He sees that Batman is the same in suffering a bad day and that makes him the only other person he sees to be similar in a world where he feels alone. This is why he feels some sort of kinship.
Despite this he’s confused on why he wouldn’t be as nihilistic or apathetic about human life like him and is angry of his denial about their similarities. Unlike him Bruce is (relatively) sane, clings on to morality and acts as a hero and he ultimately HATES him for it. He believes he and everyone else should be like him. In his twisted vision of the world he believes everyone IS just like him, Bruce especially. All either one bad day away from madness or, in Bruce’s Case, already had that one bad day. Like the failed comedian he might’ve been, he only wants to make people laugh, to put smiles on their faces. Smiles and laughs that come with either insanity, pain or death that is. He’s the Joker who constantly does things like poisoning the city reservoir, gassing the populace etc. due to this desire and his chemical engineering background. Obviously this is the Joker people talk about when referring to Killing Joke. His insanity is apparent in the warping of his mind and his constant mood swings. Some would say the Joker is actually crying when he’s laughing. It sounds ridiculous even to me, especially with the other Jokers, but that would describe this Joker pretty well in a figurative level in that his new evil persona was created in his mind in response to his overwhelming pain, grief and anger at the world.
Now of course, you might be wondering why Geoff would separate the DiTF (Joker 2 who killed Jason) and KJ (this Joker who paralyzed Barabara) Jokers as they both hurt someone in Bruce’s Family. Well, there is a difference (besides Barbara living). Joker 2 killed Jason out of fun and a bit of petty spite as he knows it will hurt Batman and possibly also because he’s jealous that he’s closer to him (an idea confirmed in White Knight that could actually fit IMO). Anyway you see it, like I said, he kills because he likes it and because he wants to. 1 paralyzed Barbara to hurt Gordon yes, but the main purpose of this is to drive him insane and prove to Batman that people cannot escape insanity because of the cynical, nonsensical and cruel reality.
To further point the difference, let’s take a look at DCAU Joker’s actions in Return of the Joker. What he did to Tim had no purpose other than to hurt Batman, destroy his legacy and to mock him as he knows his identity, trauma from his parents death and love for his family. This Joker is a hybrid between 2 (his sadistic enjoyment of others pain and the lengths he’d go just to piss Bruce off with a joke) and 3 (mocking Batman, believing himself to be above him and not minding figuring out his identity). He did not do this to prove a larger point. This lines up with the fact that Dini support the idea of a truly evil, manipulative Joker who was never a normal man driven to insanity. Joker 1 would not do this, or at the very least, not the same way for the same reasons.
This Joker wears a 3 piece suit consisting of a purple trench coat, purple pants, a yellow vest and a black shirt with a white tie. What’s interesting to note is that his shirt and tie’s colors are reversed compared to 3. This to me shows that while 3 is evil to the core, Joker 1 had a heart of sane, maybe even good man, ultimately consumed, buried deep within his own darkness. Interestingly the character design concept art shows him with a little eyeliner which makes him appear even more sinister. It can also show how figuratively blinded his true eyes are due to insanity. The 3 piece suit might be the same one he wore as a failed comedian which he likely later on dyed purple, yellow and black. Overall his appearance is basically lifted from Brian Bolland’s design in Killing Joke and is the design most modern comics portray him as.
II. Their possible origins:
Joker 3:
In Brave and the Bold #31 the Atom sees Joker’s memories which include him torturing animals, keeping their bones, murdering his parents and creating a criminal empire from small beginnings. All this points to the Psychopathic J3. Interestingly, there’s nothing about him being the Red Hood and having a chemical bath but it does it necessarily contradict it. It’s possible that in his rise to power as a criminal, like in Case Study and in the non canonical origin in Batman Confidential, the bored criminal mastermind chooses to become the Red Hood to embrace the thrill of crime once more.
Now of course, there is a chance he really was never a Red Hood but his character design contradicts that. As I mentioned earlier, his suit is the same one as the one the original Red Hood wore in Detective Comics #168, in fact the cover even has the suit highlighted with a bit of purple. Also, much like Arkham Origins Joker, this means he wears the same clothes he does when he became the Red Hood. Now we already have a Red Hood Joker with 1 and 2 could be a Red Hood as well so it is unlikely Bruce would’ve witnessed 3 Red Hoods face a chemical bath in 3 separate occasions and not figure it out.
Could Joker 3 have made his gang make decoys to throw away suspicions (Joker 1)? Could Red Hood One from Zero Year been him? Or maybe just one of his pawns (Joker 2)? Who was “Robert Distal”? Then I remembered that in Zero Year, a lot of the gang members were blackmailed into being part. The confirmation that Red Hood 1 WASN’T the original (refer to Robert Distal) means that it’s possible all 3 Jokers were born at the same incident in Zero Year. Two of the background gang members falling into the vat off panel is possible. Let’s also not forget how this RH gang was inspired by the death of Bruce’s parents.
In another piece of concept art released, it shows 3 images: one of the Joker murdering Jason with the crowbar, one of a Red Hood, and one of Thomas Wayne’s grave. The first is clearly Joker 2, the other two can be both Joker 3 but it’s more likely to me that the grave is a reference to 3. There is a small chance that he could also be revealed to be involved in Thomas’ murder much like Burtonverse Joker. Honestly I hope not but I could see it.
Joker 2:
I’m going to be honest about this one. I’m not really sure if this Joker could have a possible origin. They could easily make him the most mysterious Joker to please fans. I mentioned the possibility of him being Red Hood One as Scott Snyder definitely wrote Joker with 2’s characterization which I’ll deal with later. With Joker 3 confirmed to be the original Red Hood and 1’s origin as the Red Hood being pivotal to his character, this ironically makes this Joker, who is the one who murdered Jason (who took up the mantle of Red Hood) the only one who isn’t confirmed to have been a Red Hood unless of course my theory on Zero Year causing the existence of Three Jokers as opposed to 1 is true. It’s also possible that the memories I mentioned earlier from BatB are his but I think it’s likely that his origin involves abusive “Aunt Eunice” and Jackanapes as mentioned and shown in a lot of early New 52 comics is from his memories.
He also pretended to be an immortal being known as “the pale man” but Bruce proved this to be false as he just used Dionesium. Though it’s possible “The Pale Man” concept can coincide with the Gelos god mentioned in Darkseid War. Both he and Joker 3 have shown to intentionally lie about their origins either purely for their delight or for a greater purpose while 1 does it either because he cannot truly remember or he cannot bring himself to remember because of his painful past.
Joker 1:
I’m sure we’re all familiar with this one so instead of talking about his origin I’ll discuss the various times the origin was confirmed in previous continuity to be true and why that’s okay. In Batman 450-451, he has the same flashbacks (although this is meant to be Joker 2 after his near death in DotF the fact that he’s in a semi lucid state without his madness is a trait of 3s and easily retcon-able). In Hush Returns from Gotham Knights, the Joker recalls Jeannie as he looks through a photo album of her. Edward Nigma also reveals himself to be a witness to the criminals in the story of being responsible for her death.
Even in the story itself his line of not being able to properly remember his past can be interpreted as a lie. He could easily be simply in denial as he can’t bring himself to acknowledge the truth. Though of course it’s up to interpretation. In fact you could say it was the near death experience that returned those memories and made them feel real. Still, I feel like the depth of the character made from this origin more than makes up for the loss of the mystery behind him which IMO is more important in universe than it is out. Batman in universe is similarly seen by people as we see the Joker but us knowing who he is allows us to see depth in his character. Now I’m not saying the Joker should have more depth than being insane or evil but with the second Joker taking this role as the more ambiguous Joker I think this one should then be the one with the Killing Joke origin.
Whether you like this origin or not, this Joker, like any human being, experienced failures and struggles which drove him to a life of crime which led to one bad day that ultimately drove him to insanity. It’s likely the original KJ origin will be slightly modified to fit with Zero Year so he could be one of RH1’s blackmailed henchman which makes the most sense though for Moore purists there’s always the possibility that criminals after ZY attempted to reuse the Red Hood name with their gimmicks. It’s also possible Joker 3 orchestrated all this to create 1, manipulating the thugs to recruit him, murdering his wife than ripping off the police and Batman while increasing security at ACE.
All Three Jokers:
How do they relate to one another and how are they different from people like Curtis Base who attempted to be the new Joker? Could they be brothers like in Gotham? Avatars of Gelos as implied by Darkseid War and deduced by this previous post? Once again, Geoff could do anything from here. It’s likely they are aware of each other as implied in Johns’ previous interview. It is also possible the Three Jokers were born because of Dr. Manhattan’s alterations to the timeline. He saw the Joker’s philosophy as similar to the Comedian’s but found it interesting how he’s always inconsistent in that regard. This could lead to him either intentionally creating 3 Jokers or then again they are just side effect of Zero Year overwriting previous continuity.
credit to u/NomadicJaguar64t, original post at the end
The idea of them only existing in post flashpoint continuity however means that there are quite a few stories that I’ve mentioned that may no longer be possible even after the new timeline from Reborn is made. Perhaps they could solidify this after Doomsday Clock, if they don’t merge or erase the Jokers into 1. I myself prefer if they did exist even before Flashpoint as that would have more impact and would only need a few retcons but I admit, it would make sense if the 3 Jokers is only an after effect of Osterman’s tampering with the timeline.
III. Which Joker did which?
1. Their Debut
I think it’s possible to merge the original Joker debut story in Batman #1 (Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson) with The Man Who Laughs (Matt Wagner and Doug Mankhe), which was a modern remake. Later on in Death of the Family, J2 recreates these crimes but in his own twisted way. This confirms the current canonicity of MWLs and Batman #1 ‘s General story. All the elements in the latter obviously line up with Joker 3 (cleverly planning murders and stealing diamonds) but in MWL the Joker’s apathetic nihilism (as he stated by a witness to how he killed guards and released mentally unstable inmates), hate (according to Bruce’s analysis and deduction) and plan to poison the city reservoir so they can “follow his fall” allude to Joker 1. The televised broadcasts are also much less subtle to 3 as the GA Joker used ominous radio broadcasts that were described to have a toneless voice. Instead it seems like something 2 would do as he did the same thing in the Laughing Fish were Batman directly stated this Joker to have plans that make sense to him alone.
They could have all worked together with 3 planning and administering the first murder and stealing the diamond without them knowing and confronting the criminal underworld (as portrayed in Batman #1), 2 getting publicity to sow fear through broadcasts and possibly the one to have struck against the second victim with his more direct and chaotic approach (as portrayed in MWL), and 1 vandalizing Arkham, using his chemical engineering background to perfect the Joker Venom using people to practice, releasing inmates to cause chaos and distraction and poisoning the Gotham reservoir (all in MWL). This seems like a meticulously and brilliantly calculated plan by 3. The result is that the Jokers successfully rob and murder three of the wealthiest men in Gotham, giving them funds for future operations and sowing seeds of fear and chaos through the name of Joker. All while giving 2 some time to have some fun publicity and 1 Revenge on those partially responsible for his creation (as state Batman’s investigations, Henry Claridge and Thomas Drake were involved with ACE and in Zero Year Bruce’s Family was indirectly related as ACE came from Kane chemicals)
Interesting to note is, following MWL, 1 is the one who gets caught in the end (note also that he’s not a sadomasochist as he surrenders after a beating). This shows that Joker 3 obviously planned it so he himself would not get caught. It’s likely he’s the one who stages the escape of each Joker as they either take turns committing crimes and being incarcerated or plan them together and whenever he’s the one who is caught, the insane behavior and actions of 2 and 1 gets him sent to Arkham instead of the electric chair.
Now of course Geoff can always retcon a few things to make everything fit only to Joker 3 so as to make the Joker a legacy title but still, the concept of them working together all at once in their first plot seems more interesting and sensical to me considering how retcons of the past have made early Joker appearances act like the modern Jokers. This doesn’t mean that they always work together or that they need to but it would be interesting for it to be the case for a few occasions.
2. Specific stories where each Joker took center stage while the others either laid low or aided behind the scenes
Joker 3
-Joker’s Five Way Revenge and his short solo series as written by Dennis O’Neil
-Joker’s Five Way Revenge and his short solo series as written by Dennis O’Neil
-portrays the Joker as highly arrogant, intelligent and literate as he plans elaborate plots, looks down on henchman and others, competes with Two Face as to who is the superior criminal, makes references to classical literature and shows appreciation for art. O’Neil untended his Joker to be closer to his original portrayal and this shows. The Joker not Killing Batman out of his desire to do so in a way worthy of their great rivalry is also a reference to Batman #12 in the golden age
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27hhPbYKNfo link to motion comic adaptation
-Zero Year
-Red Hood One might be Joker 3 as he is a true criminal mastermind who took over the gang
-War of Jokes and Riddles and Tom King's run in general
-competing with the Riddler as the ultimate criminal mastermind of Gotham? A purple and white suit? Frowning and not laughing until the end? King and Mikael Janin definitely knew about Joker 3 and intended this to be him.
Joker 2
-All Silver Age comics
-Steve Englehart-Marshall Rogers comics
-poisoning fish with Joker Venom so he can copyright them and gain a profit? Planning to do the same thing
To cattle to make Joker burgers? Running for Governor? Not really wanting to kill Batman but still tries because
to him it shows how much of a perfect pair they are for each other? All Joker 2
-“Of course I try to kill him! He’s my perfect foe! If I ever killed him he’d by my IM-perfect for, and who’d
give a damn?! It’s only through my failure that I know I’m so PERFECT!”
-A Death in the Family by Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo
-kills Jason (promotional art has him holding a crowbar)
-gains diplomatic immunity by becoming a UN Ambassador
-Grant Morrison's run
-constantly changing persona
-kills people in a manner that resembles practical jokes as Oberon Sexton
- the rest of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo'srun
-Death of the Family
-does not care about Bruce’s identity
-obsession with Batman borders on affection while hatred for his family for making him weaker
-does not care about his true identity
-sees Nygma as a friend but instead of immediately releasing him he releases gas in his cell to force him
to think of a way to escape as to him it wouldn’t be fun if he wasn’t at his best. Sounds just like his view on
Batman.
-pulls a practical joke on the batfam by making it seem like he cut their faces off
-Endgame
-direct sequel to DOTF
-pulls another big prank on Batman by pretending to be an immortal entity using the Dionesium
-instead of multiple choice, he sees his past as a choose-own-adventure book with even more
dark and twisted false origin stories
-Super Heavy
-seemingly becomes sane but shows no sign of being happy with his new life and still has traits from
being the Joker. Eventually returns to insanity in Dark Days, identical to his appearance in Endgame
-Dark Nights Metal
-same Joker from Endgame
Joker 1
-Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland
-Last Laugh
-art by Brian Bolland from event used in first released promo art for 3 Jokers
-skill in chemical engineering allows him to create a new Joker Venom that jokerizes all slab inmates
and spreads chaos and destruction across the whole world
-JLA: Rock of Ages
-warped mind is briefly fixed by MM allowing moment of sanity and guilt
-character design is identical to KJ
-Going Sane
-believing himself to finally Killing Batman, the Joker goes sane and gains a new normal life
and even a love interest under the name of “Joe Kerr” but returns to insanity with Batman’s return.
-shows hatred Batman as cause of his existence
-moment of lucidity and almost having a life again shows that he was once sane
-Return of Hush
-keeps photos of Jeannie in his hideout
-Edward Nigma revealed to be a witness of his pregnant wife’s death
-Cacophony
-Joker Venom further manipulated
-“I don’t hate you ‘cause I’m crazy. I’m crazy ‘cause I hate you”
Conclusions and Predictions:
Well, that was pretty long. I’d like to reiterate that while I basically just spent two months making a long theory on why the Three Jokers does have a basis for happening, isn’t stupid, and would definitely fit the old continuity as well, I am in full support of making this related to Dr. Manhattan’s machinations with the timeline which can be reversed by the end of Doomsday Clock. That being said, if ever they decide to make this a hard, permanent retcon, with a few other minor ones, this could work.
If it’s the latter, I could definitely see Geoff Killing off a Joker or two. Joker 3 is the obvious choice as he’s the most different from the Joker we know today but also the one with least potential. Jason Killing J2 is a big possibility. As is Joker 1 either killing himself or permanently regaining his sanity by forgiving Batman, accepting his offer of help and permanently being committed to (not) Arkham Asylum. Or perhaps Geoff could take a page from the unrated version of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker by having Joker 1 deciding to shoot 3 instead of Bruce before breaking down in tears.
To me, Bruce’s confrontations with all three Jokers would be interesting. Like I said, each have their own dynamic and relationship with him. J3’s respectful but heated rivalry of wits, J2’s delusional and disturbing obsession bordering on affection and J1’s complicated love hate relationship supplemented with opposing views on the world and life. What all of them have in common ultimately is their disregard for the lives of others which opposes the beliefs of the batfamily. If I were to guess, Barbara and Jason could possibly forgive them (or at least just Barbara with 1).
Well whatever the case, this has gone long enough. I hope that at the every least this post makes you realise the potential this concept has.
P.S. Three Jokers as a figurative concept
I just want to deal with this briefly as I this theory actually made me look at how people see the Joker differently. 3, the truly evil and deceptive criminal genius, can be how Batman (initially), the GCPD and Jason saw the Joker, and still foes in some iterations like Justice by Alex Ross and Kingdom Come. It’s not surprising considering the truly insidious things he’s done that they’d see him this way. 2 can be how civilians, other villains and other heroes see the Joker, as this wild card who makes little sense and while scary as hell, is a clown above all else.
Perhaps what has the most depth however is 1 being how a part of Bruce began to see the Joker as time goes on. Deep down, Bruce Wayne is the scarred child who loved his lost parents and loves his new family. Having suffered severe emotional and psychological trauma but surviving through his ideals and devotion to becoming Batman, Bruce would unsurprisingly see the Joker as someone like himself. A lost soul born from tragedy. While 3 is the demonisation of the Joker and 2 the mockery of the Joker, 1 is the humanization of the Joker. Bruce would be the kind of guy who just wants to find that human and relatable part of the Joker, to fit in his philosophy that there is intrinsic value in all life, even in those seemingly evil, that there is good in everyone.
References:
http://gothamalleys.blogspot.com/2010/09/complete-history-of-joker.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/DCcomics/comments/86rc0y/i_know_its_old_but_ive_always_enjoyed_the_theory/
https://dcmultiversehistorian.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/what-is-the-jokers-real-identity/
https://www.reddit.com/r/FanTheories/comments/9i8tsy/dc_comics_the_three_jokers_theory
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