The Batman Who Laughs
The Batman Who Laughs is a fictional character in DC Comics. He is a supervillain, and the evil counterpart and alternate version of Batman within the multiverse. He is depicted as a hybrid of both Batman and Batman's arch enemy Joker and is a member of the Dark Knights. His first appearance was in the crossover storyline , before receiving his own series and serving as the main antagonist in Batman/Superman in 2019 and DC Comics' Year of the Villain alongside Lex Luthor. He was created by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo.
Publication history
The Batman Who Laughs was created by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo first appearing in the comic book TEEN TITANS. The character was depicted as an alternate universe Batman who does not have a code against killing. Snyder explained his intent on the character in an interview by The Hollywood Reporter. "He's basically Batman's worst nightmare come to life: Batman, if he was infected by the Joker toxin and lost all sense of ethics. What he wants to do in Gotham is bring Bruce’s worst nightmares to life." Snyder's hope was that his character would be popular enough to get his own comic book series, and Snyder believed that Jock "would be the perfect person to do it".Fictional character biography
The Batman Who Laughs is a version of Batman from Earth -22 of the Dark Multiverse. In that reality, the Earth -22 Joker learns of Batman's identity as Bruce Wayne and kills most of Batman's other rogues, along with Commissioner Gordon. He then subjects thousands of Gotham City’s citizens to the chemicals that transformed him, subsequently killing several parents in front of their children with the goal of turning them into a combination of himself and Batman. When Batman grapples with the Joker, it results in the latter's death as Batman is exposed to a purified form of the chemicals that gradually turn him into a new fusion of Batman and the Joker, one with Bruce Wayne's intelligence and physical strength and the Joker's psychopathy and warped, sadistic sense of humor. The process proves irreversible by the time Batman discovers what is happening to him. The Batman Who Laughs proceeds to take over Earth -22, killing off most of his allies and turning his son Damian Wayne into a mini-Joker and recruiting the children infected by the Joker Toxin as his "Rabid Robins". The Batman Who Laughs seems to be the leader or second-in-command of Barbatos' Dark Knights and recruits the other members.After arriving on Prime-Earth, the Batman Who Laughs takes control of Gotham and oversees events at the Challenger's mountain. He distributes joker cards to the Batman's Rogues, giving them the ability to alter reality and take over sections of the city. Accompanying him are Dark Damian and three Rabid Robins, having intended to destroy all of reality by linking the Over-Monitor to Anti-Monitor's astral brain. The Batman Who Laughs is defeated when the Prime Universe Batman is aided by the Joker, who notes the alternate Batman's failure to perceive this scenario due to still being a version of Batman.
While assumed dead, The Batman Who Laughs is revealed to be in the custody of Lex Luthor, who offers him a place in the Legion of Doom. At some point during the formation of the Legion of Doom, Joker met with Lex Luthor and advised him not to bring the Batman Who Laughs into the group. The Batman Who Laughs talks to Lex Luthor about the worlds beyond the Source Wall as Joker listens in.
The Batman Who Laughs eventually resumes his attack on Batman, drawing in a string of alternate versions of Bruce Wayne to taunt his counterpart as he prepares for a mass assault on Batman. As an additional asset, the Batman Who Laughs is allied with the Grim Knight, a version of Batman who uses guns and turned his Gotham into a military dictatorship. With no other way to stop his other self, Batman is forced to 'accept' a twisted 'transfusion' from the Joker that begins to turn him into a variation of the Batman Who Laughs, attempting to fight it down while relying on the psychosis of the technically-treated James Gordon Jr. to try to predict his foe. When the Batman Who Laughs draws in a version of Bruce Wayne who has not even lost his parents yet, Batman is able to defeat his other self by luring him into a confrontation in the Waynes' graveyard, with Alfred subsequently using a transfusion from the other Bruce to restore Batman to normal before he is sent home and the Batman who Laughs is locked up in the Hall of Justice dungeon. However, his serums did manage to infect Shazam, Blue Beetle, Donna Troy, Hawkman, Supergirl and Commissioner Gordon,
A year later, The Batman Who Laughs is still locked up in the Hall of Justice, but with the help of his new Secret Six he begins to set his plan in motion. He starts by having Commissioner Gordon lead Batman and Superman to the cave under Crime Alley where King Shazam will infect Superman. Later, Superman appears seemingly "infected" making their way to the Hall of Justice weapons room. The Batman Who Laughs tells Superman that he plans to infect the world with his serum. He then makes an off-handed comment to Clark that his plan will be like the destruction of Krypton and Lois and Jon won't survive. Superman attacks The Batman Who Laughs, seemingly blowing his cover. However, the whole thing was revealed to be an illusion by Batman, with The Batman Who Laughs praising him saying that he had a similar system on his own world. The Batman Who Laughs' next step is having Scarab hack the Fortress of Solitude and Batcave computers. As this is happening, he begins taunting Clark saying that they were all evil inside and that he will soon know, but as Superman is about to be infected Supergirl catches the tainted Batarang and is unwittingly infected As the Legion of Doom signal shines in the sky, The Batman Who Laughs muses to himself that he is on a collision course with Lex Luthor, but isn't too concerned because as he puts it, "Batman always wins."
In the Watchmen sequel, Doomsday Clock, the Batman Who Laughs is among the villains who are analyzed by Doctor Manhattan when Guy Gardner uses his power ring to show the constructs of villains that they have faced.
Powers and abilities
The Batman Who Laughs is depicted as having the same abilities as Batman, combined with the twisted nihilism of the Joker. This contributed to the reasons why Batman was forced to ally with the Joker to stop his counterpart, as he anticipated that his other self retained his existing tactical abilities and therefore an alliance between Batman and the Joker was the only thing his counterpart could never anticipate. Hailing from the Dark Multiverse, he is able to see people's dark urges and fears, visualized as alternate realities of their current actions. His characteristic metal crown functions as a futuristic visor made out of "Dark Metal", allowing him to filter these actions and pinpoint his opponents' next moves during combat and manipulate them psychologically by using his knowledge of their fears. Unlike Batman, he opts for lethal weapons that allows him to kill swiftly, including but not limited to machine guns, knives, a chain weapon with a batarang attached at the end and various assortment of bladed weapons.Like the inhabitants of the Dark Multiverse, The Batman Who Laughs has a weakness to Nth Metal.
Reception
The Batman Who Laughs has been commonly described as "horrifying" by website authors. Comic Book Resources describes The Batman Who Laughs as comprising all the "best" parts of Batman and the "worst" parts of the Joker.The character has been compared to Judge Death in design. Scott Snyder, the creator of The Batman Who Laughs, noted that the two characters have a similar aesthetic.
In other media
In Mortal Kombat 11, The Batman Who Laughs was used as a DLC skin for Noob Saibot with the Elseworld Skin Pack exclusive to Kombat Pack owners upon the release of the Joker as DLC.In DC Universe Online, The Batman Who Laughs is the primary antagonist in the Metal Part I episode. Through his machinations, the heroes are tricked into delivering special metal to his multiversal spire which begins to drag Earth into the Dark Multiverse. He returns in Metal Part II, attempts to Joker toxin bomb the Oblivion Bar with the assembled heroes inside, but was ultimately defeated along with the other Dark Knights and Barbatos in the Dark Multiverse.