The fictional supervillain Joker was inspired by a German actor named Conrad Veidt in the 1940s

He’s a criminal and a mastermind with a sadistic sense of humor and people’s favorite archenemy of Batman.

We’re talking about the greatest fictional super villain of all times, the Joker who first appeared in the comic book Batman in 1940s.

 

Cutout of a Publicity photo with some villains Batman. The Joker Cesar Romero.

Joker’s story began when Bill Finger, Jerry Robinson, and Bon Kane created a few concepts of a character inspired by Gwynplaine, the man with elongated face, wicked gaze, and even more wicked grin.

He’s role took part in the 1928 movie The Man Who Laughs’ and was played by a German actor named Conrad Veidt.

Photo of Conrad Veidt

After drawing a sketch inspired by Gwynplaine on a playing card, Robinson wanted to bring Joker to life and create a villain who would be nothing like the previous ones who fought against Batman. His goal of creating a bizarre and impressive physical character with insane, yet brilliant, mind was achieved.

Undoubtedly, Batman is one of the most beloved superheroes in the fictional world. However, good guys become dull after a while and without an unpredictable evil opponent to fight against, they often lose fans’ interest.

Photo of Cesar Romero as The Joker and Burgess Meredith as The Penguin from the television program Batman.

After the appearance of Joker, the fictional stage became way more exciting. He was planned to be killed after his first appearance, but the comic writers transformed him into a villain who would be more that just another lunatic who wants to kill Batman. Instead, they made him his eternal archenemy.

Although Joker didn’t have any superpowers, he became known for his clownish appearance, insanity, and self-made poisonous or lethal weaponry.

Many stories about Joker’s origins have been told over the years. One of them says that Joker was a laboratory worker who became the Red Robin Hood, a masked criminal who stole a million dollars and then retired.

Joker (comics)|The Joker costume from the film The Dark Knight displayed at the 2011 Comic-Con International. Photo Credit

Later, while working as a comedian, he turned into Joker, a super villain who stood up against Batman and caused chaos.

Joker co-creator Jerry Robinson in 2008; he conceived the Joker as an exotic, enduring arch-villain who could repeatedly challenge Batman  Photo Credit

The creators of Joker said that the origin of the story doesn’t matter because it’s not about who Joker was before he became a super villain. What matters is who is he now.

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People may love him or hate him, but no one can deny that he was and will always remain as one of the greatest fictional characters ever created.