Joker
When it comes to trickster gods , most think of Marvel ’s Loki . Maybe it ’s Tom Hiddleston ’s cheekbones that make Loki so hex in the eyes of so many nerd , but there was brief period of time in the year 2000 where Thor ’s little buddy was only the 2d enceinte trickster god in all of comics . There was a time in DC ’s story where theJokerbecame a full - fledge heavenly being and rewrote the world in his own demented image .
Emperor Jokerwas a miniseries that ran through all four of DC ’s Superman deed in 2000 . It ’s the type of fever aspiration writing DC was know for during the late 1990s era . And even though its antagonist was Batman ’s expectant nemesis , it ’s really a jolly good Superman story . It effectively flipped the power dynamic of the two characters – the Joker , a deadly human who bank exclusively on his wit is yield godlike power , while Superman , a godlike man is pull to swear exclusively on his witticism .
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To expend a term from the Marvel Universe , Emperor Joker is an Omega layer threat . He has the world power to warp reality , limited only by his sadistic imagination . He metamorphose the Justice League into insult parody of themselves , he become Lois Lane into a edition of Lex Luthor , and Lex Luthor into his personal court jester ( who retains all his memories from the unaltered timeline ) . He also build Bizarro Earth ’s telephone number one hero and Jimmy Olsen his chum , Gravedigger Lad . He also turns Arkham Asylum into a jumbo flying discus .
And that ’s just the start of the immorality wackiness Emperor Joker inflicts on world . He repeatedly kills characters , bring them back to animation , and then kills them again . On a whim , the Joker entrust his most devastating deed by annihilating the People ’s Republic of Chinaand then gobble their piled - up skull like Galactus ( literally just to make a bad joke ) . As a elysian being , Emperor Joker takes a sledge to both the natural law of physics and ethics , creating a zany land of dark . In sum , it’sCool WorldmeetsA Nightmare On Elm Street .
Emperor Joker is so powerful , even other godlike existence are forced to submit to his will . When Darkseid confab with the Quintessence ( a super pact of the universe ’s most muscular celestial beings ) , the lord god of Apololips is horror-stricken to see that Joker has already infected the brain of the Wizard SHAZAM , Ganthet , Zeus , the Phantom Stranger , and All Father – with a 2000 Budweiser commercial character ( Wazzup!).Even the Spectre ( the embodiment of God ’s Old Testament wrath ) and literal Satan eventually succumb to the Joker ’s vision . As far as trickster gods go , Emperor Joker puts Loki to dishonour just on the sheer level of pandemonium he envokes .
So how did the Joker become so lewdly powerful ? And more importantly , how did Superman eventually kill him ? The resolution to both question is the same – Mr. Mxyzptlk . Most citizenry who are familiar with the 5th Dimensional Imp be intimate him fromSuperman : the AnimatedSeries , where he was voiced by Gilbert Gottfried . foresightful narrative short , he ’s a divine being who resembles a Keebler Elf set as aJetsonscharacter and he uses his reality - falsify abilities to sweep dimensions every ninety days to pester Superman , and only leaves when play tricks into say his name back .
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Make no mistake , Mxy is an Omega grade threat on his own . However , fifth Dimensional Imps are slap-up at not cause lasting damage to the textile of realism and usually houseclean up after themselves when they leave . But one twenty-four hour period Mxy induce careless with his mischief and offer the Joker a shaving of his world - warp baron . underestimate someone like the Joker is always a bad theme , and Mxy ’s lordliness cost him nearly all his fifth Dimensional abilities . instill with the tycoon of a trickster god , the Joker crowned himself Emperor of the universe and ostracise Mxy to the Sun Myung Moon .
Initially , the Joker was mostly content with just torturing Batman , savagely killing the Dark Knight every Nox and then straightaway resurrecting him . He later play with the Man of Steel as well , turn him into a super criminal imprisoned for the murder of Lex Luthor ( who is in fact , not in reality numb ) , forced to relive the same day over and over . But since most of Joker ’s focus is on poor old Batsy , Mxy utilise the last of his mogul to awaken Superman ’s memory , trust him to be the only being capable of defeating Emperor Joker .
The Imp warn Superman that Joker ca n’t be killed by forcible mean , but that does n’t lay off Big Blue from flying through his kaiju - sized skull in conflict . After losing several battles , Mxy explains how reality - bending actually works – that the existence is just a web of collective consciousnesses that form an agreed upon reality . Joker was simply forcing everyone to have his individual world simultaneously , thus change the material of the creation .
Mxy sum up that even reality - bending god have to follow the rules of the universes they make . Realizing that even as a god Joker ca n’t block fixating on Batman , Superman figures out a way to create a devastating paradox within Joker ’s universe . He tells the clown god that he ’s nothing without Batman , which eventually goads Joker into negating Batman ’s very being – with no Batman there is no Joker , and with no Joker there is no Jokerverse .
Effectively glitching out his own realism , Joker is transformed back into a mortal being and left babbling his own name backwards in a trance - like state . Batman was left so traumatized bythe repugnance inflicted upon himthat the Spectre has to pluck out the memories of it just to keep him sane . Mxy gets his powers back , but Superman makes him anticipate never to return to Earth again . Though Joker ’s actions as a god were eventually nullified , they are still referenced in comics from time to time .
While the Joker ’s ascending to godhood was brief , it remain a basic of its earned run average , even being adapt into an episode ofBatman : Brave and the Bold . true , it is a very dated comic book , reference TV display and celebrities that many Gen - Z nerds in all probability wo n’t understand ( and eating China would in all likelihood be moot elusive today ) , butEmperor Jokeris basically the perfect time - capsule for DC ’s Y2 K stories . It ’s silly , it ’s gory , and it ’s astonishingly high conception for what it is .
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