Batman - Earth-22 - Dark Nights: The Batman Who Laughs (2017)

After his parents were shot and killed in an ally one evening, Bruce Wayne trained to fight his fears and become a symbol of Justice for the city of Gotham.

Over the years, Batman worked with the G.C.P.D to capture numerous costumed individuals, eventually taking in several people under his wing and training them to become members of the Bat Family. Inviting them all back to the Batcave and trusting them with his secret identity, he put them through vigorous simulations to keep them at the peak physical health.

Batman was also one of the founding members of the Justice League and the main petitioner for the armoury - wishing to study the confiscated weapons to understand how they worked and build defences against them. He mastered how to use all of them.


"The Batman Who Laughs"

Racing off to confront the Joker, Batman was overpowered by the Clown Prince of Crime and drugged, keeping him paralysed but fully conscious of all the chaos that the villain was causing across Gotham. He listened in fury as his nemesis gloated about all the crimes he had committed. However his anger turned to loathing and ferocity as he watched the Joker begin shooting several parents in the head, infecting their traumatised children with Joker Toxin and turning them lose on the burning city. He managed to break free from his bonds, overcoming immobility and pouncing on top of Joker, punching him several times with enough force to knock out teeth. In a brutal frenzy, Batman repeatedly told the Clown that he would not be allowed to repeat his actions, breaking his neck. However as he breathed in, panting from such a display of aggression and force, Bruce inhaled a nanotoxin strain that had been released upon the Joker's last breath.

Taking time to run an autopsy on the Joker's corpse, Batman discovered that the Joker was dying from the chemicals that altered his appearance, slowly killing him from the inside out.

Two days after he killed the Clown, he met with Superman in a warehouse, reporting his findings to Clark. He went on to reassure his friend that he would not become a killer, explaining that the only reason why he had committed the act was because he had not been given any other choice. Batman went on to muse that the children that the Joker had contaminated may be unable to save. Upon hearing that one of the young children attempted to tear out the throat of a psychologist, he let out small laugh, quickly composing himself and apologising for the outburst, declaring that he was sorry and that what he had heard was "not funny."

Batman began running tests on himself, horrified to find that he was succumbing to the nanotoxin, becoming the person who, over the corse of his life, had taken so much from his city. He was unable to cure his condition, which was quickly taking hold of him, desperately trying to ensure that no one else would find out his secret. He doused his own son Damian in a chemical concoction that would turn him into a maddened version of himself - transforming in a similar way to that of the surviving children of the Joker's final attack.

Three Days later, Batman stalled the rest of his family with a three hour training programme as he waited to determine the results of tests he ran on himself. Realising that he was turning into his worst enemy with no cure to the effects, Batman resigned himself to his fate, wanting to eliminate his family so they would not discover the truth and report him to the Justice League.

He told them the truth, explaining that even if they were to lock him in the Phantom Zone, he would still be a threat to the world. He added that he brought them there for a specific reason, laughing manically as he turned on them with a pair of machine guns - murdering Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Hood and Red Robin in cold blood.

Batman began producing a potent strand of Black Kryptonite to use against Superman, targeting Supergirl as a trail run. Satisfied with the results, he set about planning the downfall of the Justice League.

A week the slaughter of his loved ones, Batman travelled to the Watchtower, where he butchered every last member of the League with the assembled weapons from their rogues gallery. He left Superman till last, exposing both himself and his son to a sample of Black Kryptonite as he gloated to his former friend that he was doing this because he wanted to, adding that it was fun killing them. He assured Superman that people would try to oppose him, growing excited at the prospect as means to exercise his new drive to ravage the world in the name of chaos. He mockingly suggested that Superman try to reassure his family that all was going to be alright, callously remarking that Clark could lie to his family, since the Krytponian would not comply. He introduced them to the New Bat Family, made up of the kids the Joker had tortured and infected, as well as Damian Wayne. He reprimanded Damian for interrupting, pointing out that he was speaking with Superman and Lois. He casually replied that not only did Damian willingly joined his side, but also helped Batman devise how to kill the League and the Man of Steel. Agreeing with Lois that he didn't have to do this, Batman tossed the Kryptonite at both Superman and Jon, smiling as the Kryptonians tore Lane to pieces before dying themselves.

As a final act of the Batman of his world, Bruce smeared blood on the window in the shape of a smile. Turning his back on his role as Gotham vigilante, he became known as The Batman Who Laughed, a servant of Barbatos and the leader of the Dark Knights.


Appearances:

1. "The Batman Who Laughs" - First and Only Appearance (As Batman/Origin)

The Joker - Earth-22 - Dark Nights: The Batman Who Laughs (2017)

Known as one of Batman's most dangerous adversaries, the Joker both loved and hated his nemesis, always wanting to push Wayne to his limits and make him a better hero. They had been enemies for years, often being committed to the Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane.

At some point during their fight against each other, Joker learned the identity of his nemesis as Bruce Wayne. He has had numerous encounters with both Batman and the Bat Family, causing them much pain

Discovering that the chemicals in his system - responsible for transforming him into the villain - were quickly killing him, the Joker set about devising a plan to preserve his memory and pass on the mantle to a new successor - believing that no host would be more perfect that Batman himself, since he had the potential to force the hero to abandon his rule about not killing in the process. The cells in his body underwent a process of autophagy.

Before his confrontation with Batman in his final endgame, the Clown Prince of Crime spied on Commissioner James Gordon, enjoying his demand for him to be arrested "by the book." He slaughtered his way through the G.C.P.D, leaving Gordon to last. Using a highly corrosive acid, the Joker hurled the substance in his face, enjoying the sight of his enemy dissolving in front of him as he begged for his daughter Barbara. He decided to take Gordon's pipe, glasses, coat, bullet riddled badge and trench coat as a means to goad Batman.

He went on to murder Batman's allies and enemies alike, going so far as to butcher Penguin, Killer Croc, the Ventriloquist, Scarface and Catwoman. He deemed this as "Burning the Book" and preparing for the "joke too far."


"The Batman Who Laughs"

Detonating multiple bombs to destroy buildings around Gotham, Joker mockingly asked the bound and drugged Batman which hospital he had destroyed - "Mercy Hospital or Gotham General?". He demanded that Batman fight back and stop him, noting that the stimulant he had been doused with only paralysed his body, keeping his brain functioning. He boasted that he had been planning his operations for months, musing over the ease of "systematically killing a whole city."

Joker gleefully recounted how he murdered Gordon, slipping the Commissioner's coat over his own, noting that they did not have left. He went on to add that their battle would not last forever, so that they would need to adapt to survive, or die in the conflict.

In a sick and twisted ploy to push Batman over the edge, he proceeded to force families with young children to walk towards the pair, shooting the parents though the head in a style similar to of the Waynes. Going to the girl's side, he told her not to be afraid, welcoming her to his new city as he infected her Joker Venom. He repeated the process, shooting over a dozen sets of parents before Batman could finally overcome paralysis and fight back. As the vigilante beat him to a bloody pulp, he kept bragging that Batman would not stop him, pushing him so far over the edge that the Dark Knight broke his neck.

In his final gasp of breath Joker gained his final victory over his nemesis, infecting him with a concentrated version of a Joker Nanotoxin that would alter Batman's brain and personality to create a new and far more dangerous version of himself. The virulent strain laid dormant in his body, only becoming harmful if the carrier suffered from "necrosis."

His final plan ended with victory, resulting in the creation of a new and far more violent version of Batman.


Appearances:

1. "The Batman Who Laughs" - First and Only Appearance