The Dark Knight Theory Completely Recontextualizes The Joker 15 Years After His Debut

A clever DC fan theory proposes a new take on the Joker’s origin story prior to The Dark Knight, tying it to Batman and the League of Shadows. Heath Ledger changed comic book movie history with his Joker performance in one of Christopher Nolan’s most acclaimed movies, The Dark Knight, as he delivered the most intelligent, cruel, and authentic take on the iconic DC villain. Ledger’s Joker is an even more mysterious figure by the end of The Dark Knight than he is at the beginning, and his nihilistic approach to villainy elevates him over other Batman enemies with clearer motivations.

Apart from building mystery around the character, the Joker’s unknown origin story also gives the audience the option to come up with their own creative theories. From a military background to an Arkham backstory, every hypothetical Dark Knight Joker origin theory adds a new element to the villain’s legend. After all, the Joker’s wide array of skills doesn’t seem to come from a regular citizen, but from a terrorist with a specialized background. Reddit user r/DickieIam goes a step further and not only explains the Joker’s origin but also connects him to Batman and all of the Dark Knight’s first enemies from Batman Begins.

Joker Could Be A Former League Of Shadows Operative

In Batman Begins, Ra’s Al Ghul enacts his plan to poison Gotham’s water supply in Batman Begins with the help of a small team of League of Shadows acolytes. Batman fights Ra’s Al Ghul’s henchmen before thwarting the villain’s plans and causing his death. As the Reddit fan theory explains, Batman could knock the mask off one of these henchmen in the middle of battle, causing him to breathe Scarecrow’s fear-inducing toxin gas and altering his psyche.

Deeply affected by the fear gas and possibly suffering from amnesia, this member of the League of Shadows could escape the authorities, leave the League, and take on a new persona to wage war against the city he couldn’t destroy and the man who instilled fear in him. As the Joker, he could defect the League of Shadows and prepare his own plan to break Gotham apart, learning from Ra’s Al Ghul and Scarecrow’s mistakes and using his League of Shadows training to put his plan in motion. Feats like infiltrating the hospital where Harvey Dent is being treated and filling it with bombs are easy tasks for a former League of Shadows warrior.

Batman’s Unique Suit Can Explain Joker’s Scars

Another detail that gives this fan theory more credit is the fact that Batman brutally beats some of Ra’s Al Ghul’s League of Shadows henchmen with his arm blades, which could leave gnarly scars on at least one of them. Coupled with Scarecrow’s fear gas and a hatred for Batman’s bat symbolism, the Joker’s accidental smile-shaped scar could motivate him to create his own themed persona. Embracing the concept of a creepy clown, he could take the name of “The Joker” and find ways to weaponize the gimmick — like instilling fear with his laugh and using his combat training for bizarre murder methods such as his infamous “pencil trick”.

Why The League Of Shadows Joker Theory Makes Sense

The Joker’s League of Shadows backstory explains his tactical skills. Members of the League of Shadows are experts in weapons, martial arts, paramilitary strategy, and even interrogation methods, not to mention their infatuation with pulling the strings of society by burning everything to the ground. Since the Joker only suggests that his terrorist attacks aim to destabilize Gotham for the sake of chaos, it’s possible that his philosophy is at least influenced by prior training and indoctrination from the League of Shadows. Even though the Joker likely wouldn’t hand Gotham over to the League of Shadows, he would still honor their ideology and preserve their legacy.

Joker’s inconsistent explanation for his facial scars could come either from his refusal to reveal his history with Ra’s Al Ghul and the League of Shadows or from an authentic form of amnesia. Either way, the absence of a concrete origin makes the Joker a much more unpredictable threat than Batman Begins‘ villains, as Batman and the GCPD have nothing to work with when devising a plan to take him down. As an independent agent of chaos, the Joker has a huge advantage over everyone in the way of his plans, and he no longer needs to belong to a group to achieve in The Dark Knight what Ra’s Al Ghul couldn’t achieve in Batman Begins.