The Character of The Joker
Appearance
reflects his personality as doesn’t care about
himself at all – scruffy, grungy, edgy, looks
corrupt/decaying, smudged greasepaint
inspired by Johnny Rotten, Clockwork
Orange
Actions Taken
robs a bank and has all of his men killed
robs then burns the mob’s money ($1b.)
blows up a hospital
likes being hurt
asks to be killed
kills mob members without thought
places detonators on 2 ferries asking each
to blow the other first
asks Batman to choose between the lives of
Rachel and Dent
corrupts Dent to undermine faith in the
system
Personality
-agent of chaos”/your worst nightmare
-observes no rules/pursues no plan
- demands nothing except mayhem
-attacks and despises core institutions:
banks, law, government, hospitals,
wealthy
-wants to reverse the normal order of
things
-catalyst for change
-has nothing to hide, no identity “ no
DNA, no fingerprints”
-psychopathic, schizophrenic clown with
zero empathy
-has no motives so needs no backstory
or origin – conflicting stories of his
appearance as doesn’t really matter
-challenges morality/ethics of others by
giving them impossible choices
-knows that any victory over him will
cause the destruction he wants
-highlights what obedience to the law
brings/break out of calculation
You and your kind, all you care about is money.
This city deserves a better class of criminal. And
I'm gonna give it to them!
Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know
what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars…. You know, I
just... do things. … I'm not a schemer. I try to
show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to
control things really are.
Why so serious
Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established
order, and everything becomes chaos. I'm an
agent of chaos. Oh, and you know the thing about
chaos? It's fair!
I took Gotham's white knight and I brought him
down to our level. It wasn't hard. You see,
madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes
is a little push!
“I don’t want to kill you! What would I do
without you? You complete me…. I think you
and I are destined to do this forever
The Character of Batman/Bruce Wayne
Hero or Vigilante?
or a dark hero for our times
-uses violence outside the law to stop crime
-escalates the situation by his extreme
responses
-endangers the public in his pursuit of crime
-is blamed for the death of policemen by
Gotham’s citizens
-inspires other Batman wannabes to being
vigilantes
-he accepts blame for not stopping the deaths
of people
-he kidnaps and transports Lau back to the US
-he interrogates the Joker with violence
-while using technology to find the Joker
creates a system of surveillance that can spy
on everyone
-he kills Two-Face (beyond his code)
-sacrificed his life to save Gotham/what would
it be like without him
-sacrifices a relationship with Rachel
-has noble intentions that have unintended
consequences
-refuses to kill the Joker
-kills Two-Face believing Gordon’s sons life
was about to be ended
-commits the ultimate heroic gesture by
taking the blame for Dent’s criminal activity
and allowing him to die as the hero
Personality
-devoted/obsessed in fighting injustice
-deeply troubled by his inability to control
Gotham’s fate
-concerned whether his crusade has an end
-burdened by the power he has
-tries to find the proper public face for heroism
(consistent with the law/without need for
disguise)
-after Rachel’s death and Dent’s criminal acts
sees that it is impossible to do away with the
hero’s mask
-coping with the consequences of his actions
-alone, without a relationship
-as Bruce Wayne can’t enjoy the pleasures of
the rich
-has to accept being beyond the law/an outcast/
a criminal figure for Gotham to survive chaos
This city just showed you that it's full of people
ready to believe in good
Because you were the best of us! He wanted to
prove that even someone as good as you could
fall.
Sometimes the truth isn't good enough, sometimes
people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve
to have their faith rewarded...
It’s happening now. Harvey is that hero. He
locked up half of the city's criminals, and he did it
without wearing a mask. Gotham needs a hero
with a face.
Alfred states: “You crossed the line first”
The Character of Harvey Dent “Two-Face”
The Good and Bad in Harvey Dent “The White Knight
- Publicly he is the beloved/heroic/popular District Attorney taking on the mob and cleaning up the
streets of Gotham
- Proclaimed ‘the white knight’ by Gordon – fearless, not intimidated and without a mask
- Supported by Batman as the acceptable face of heroism within the law – his heir
- Brings the mob to court/justice
- Proclaims himself Batman to hide the truth
-Wanted Rachel’s life saved ahead of his own
However this disguises the fact that many of his activities are not consistent with the law despite his
belief in his own ethical purity (which alienated police officers in the past when in internal affairs)
- At trial knocks out a defendant
- Asks Batman to go outside the law and kidnap Lau
- Prosecutes 500 of the mob at the same time – “equal justice for all?”
- Threatens violence against a defendant in custody and decides to leave justice to chance (for which
he is challenged by Batman to remain within the law)
Through the Joker’s actions his face is burnt/disfigured and Rachel is killed
- tragedy makes him angry, twisted, a criminal himself
- transformed from white knight to bitter monster – seduced to evil
- killing those who betrayed him
- leaving people’s fates to the toss of a coin – without morality or conscience
- shoots Batman, threatens Gordon’s son and is killed by Batman
You either die a hero or you live long enough to
see yourself become the villain.
You thought we could be decent men, in an
indecent time! You were wrong. The world is
cruel, and the only morality in a cruel world is
chance. Unbiased, unprejudiced... fair. His son's
got the same chance she had, 50/50.
The Character of Rachel Dawes
Personality/Actions
- The assistant District Attorney and girlfriend of Harvey Dent
- Knows Batman’s identity
- Loves Bruce Wayne but knows a relationship with him as Batman will be impossible
- A feisty, strong woman really clear about what's important to her and unwilling to compromise her
morals
- Challenges the Joker when he barges into a fundraiser looking for Dent, kneeing him in the balls
- Saved from death by Batman
- acts as a check on Batman’s actions – challenging what he might become in so acting
- sends a letter to Alfred outlining why she will marry Dent and not Bruce Wayne, to be opened when
Bruce is seen to be ready – this is burnt by Alfred
- betrayed by corrupt cops and the mob and given to the Joker her and Dent present Batman and
Gordon with an impossible dilemma – who should be saved
- Batman elects to save Rachel but finds Dent there – Rachel is killed by explosion elsewhere
When I told you that if Gotham no longer needed
Batman we could be together, I meant it. But I'm
not sure the day will come when *you* will no
longer need Batman.
Can you avenge evil without becoming it?
The Character of Commissioner Gordon
Gordon’s Personality/Actions
The truly heroic character who doesn’t fall from grace
- Lieutenant Gordon works with Batman
- one of the few police officers who is not corrupt
- sees Dent as the law’s White Knight
- a realistic applier of the law, knowing what is needed to get the job done
- virtuous, strong, incorruptible yet understated – not one for the limelight
- willing to lay down his life to protect others (the Mayor)
- goes into hiding to lure the Joker out/helps Batman apprehend him
- becomes Commissioner of Police for his services
- his family is held hostage and son threatened with death
- the only one with knowledge of what Batman has sacrificed and recognising the need for a hero
within the law
- smashes the bat signal to indicate Batman’s new position in relation to the law
I don't get political points for being an idealist, I
have to do the best I can with what I have.
Because he's the hero Gotham deserves. But not
the one it needs right now. And so we'll hunt him.
Because he can take it. Because he's not our hero.
He's a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A
dark knight