Joker venom
Encyclopedia
Joker venom, also called Joker toxin or Smilex, is a fictional toxin, a favorite murder
weapon used by The Joker
in the Batman
franchise of movies, comics, and cartoons. It has had a variety of names depending on the writer, including Smilex, Smylex, Laughing Gas, Joker Gas, Joker Juice, Laughing Toxin, Laugh-A-loads, Joker Toxin, Happy Gas and Perma-Smile.
, which causes muscular convulsions and paralysis, and to the legendary Sardonic herb which supposedly causes facial paralysis
and laughter until the point of death by asphyxiation. In reality, the venom exhibits the combined effects of strychnine poisoning, the real-life hemlock water dropwort
, or Oenanthe crocata, a poisonous plant which causes face muscles to contract into a grin, and nitrous oxide
, or laughing gas, and therefore most likely kills by asphyxiation.
In a 1980s comic book, the Joker facilitates one of his many escapes from Arkham Asylum
using the venom - by mixing together the common cleaning chemicals found in a janitor's closet.
DC Heroes Roleplaying Game
, Joker Venom is described as "a hellish mixture of hydrogen cyanide and Strychnodide (a strychnine
derivative)", which "Causes immediate cessation of heart
and brain
functions. As a side effect, the victim's muscle
s contract in such a way as to severely tighten and discolor the victim's skin
, especially in the facial area. This leaves the victim's corpse permanently scarred with a clown-like grin in tribute to his killer". It also is clear about the toxin's versatility as a gas or liquid, mentioning that "since the Joker Venom is just as deadly if absorbed through the pores as it is if inhaled, the Joker occasionally releases it in gas form throughout the central heating/cooling vents
of a building."
, it was revealed that the man who would become the Joker once worked in a chemical plant, and may have had some chemical education as a result. The Joker also uses the toxin on the real estate agent who sells him an old carnival, by sticking him with a poisoned needle while shaking the man's hand to seal the deal.
, when Bruce Wayne reads through the police file on Jack Napier, he learns that Napier, despite his criminal ways, is extremely intelligent and especially gifted in art and chemistry
. A file sitting on a desk in the Joker's hideout is marked "CIA
- DDID Nerve Gas - discontinued 1977" and is filled with photos of dead soldiers with fixed grins on their faces. This indicates that, according to the film's continuity, the toxin is likely derived from an experimental nerve gas developed by the U.S. after the Vietnam War
.
Joker venom is the means by which Joker terrorizes Gotham City when he first appears in his new guise, slipping components of the toxin into household products such as cosmetics and cleaning fluids, in such a way that when used together, the products become deadly. In a mock TV commercial, he refers to the "special ingredient" as "Smilex" (alternatively spelled "Smylex") and later attempts to wipe out hundreds of Gothamites with Smilex gas via giant festival balloons. Since the toxin is in the balloons themselves, this would seem to indicate that Joker Venom in this continuity is lighter than air, as it would have to be for the toxin-filled balloons to float.
Batman: The Man Who Laughs
revealed that Joker, who was created by falling into a vat of chemicals, had stolen them in a plan to poison Gotham City's reservoir, but the plan was foiled by Batman. His brand of Joker venom turns the victim's skin white, tints keratin-containing substances (hair and nails) green (though he's been known to paint them red & black), and turns the victim's lips ruby red. It appeared that the Joker went through several trial runs to get the desired effect, however - the Police discovered a warehouse full of dead bodies all with white skin and green hair, but on some victims, the face muscles were so contracted that the eyes popped out and the skin tore apart. The perfected Joker Venom came in two varieties: a fast acting one used to kill a T.V reporter, and a slower acting one to kill one of his victims at exactly midnight. This same tactic of killing a man at midnight with a slow-acting toxin is repeated from the Joker's first appearance in the Batman comics wherein he does the same thing.
A story arc in Legends of the Dark Knight
put Joker venom's origins in a different light altogether. In this arc a cousin of the man who became the Joker named Melvin Reipan, an autistic savant with a gift for chemistry, is persuaded to create the Joker Venom as a way to "make people laugh", in exchange for becoming "handsome". However, Reipan is in fact physically very attractive, only having been told by his abusive
mother he was ugly. This story appeared in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #50 and not only revealed the possible origins of Joker Venom, but also told the first battle between Batman and the Joker after his first attempt to destroy the city.
, a gang war between the Joker and Maxie Zeus
erupts over Maxie Zeus cutting the Joker's venom with Ecstasy to make a new designer drug
called "Chuckles".
has an apparent equivalent to Joker venom in the form of Red Skull
's "dust of death", a chemical which turns the head of its victim into a "red skull" resembling that of Red Skull. In a crossover, the Red Skull and the Joker face off against one another, the Joker becomes outraged when he learns that he has unwittingly worked for a Nazi ("I may be a criminal lunatic, but I'm an American criminal lunatic!"), and they employ their favorite toxins on each other. They realize the toxins are useless against each other, as both toxins are strikingly similar at a chemical level and both combatants are immune to their own toxins.
and causes uncontrollable spasm
s of laughter, followed by a slow, painful death. Some have speculated that the venom hyperstimulates the laughter functions of the brain
, leaving the victim unable to breathe; others speculate that the toxin's neurological effects cause the electrical impulses controlling the heart to go haywire, causing Tachycardia
, followed by cardiac arrest and eventual death.
).
Prolonged exposure even to non-fatal Joker venom is highly dangerous, as it can cause permanent brain damage
, leading to severe and permanent mental illness with delusions, hallucinations, paranoia, and mania.
, Joker uses a spike worn in his palm (similar to a Joy Buzzer
) to administer the drug in a handshake. In The Man Who Laughs
the Joker uses bullets laced with Joker Venom in order to kill another of his selected targets. In Jeph Loeb
's and Tim Sale
's Catwoman: When in Rome
Joker venom is duplicated by the Riddler to blame Catwoman for the murder of a Sicilian
Mafia
kingpin. It is referred to as Joker Juice by both Catwoman and The Riddler.
in an episode called "The Laughing Fish", in which selected targets were exposed to part of the compound and later gassed with the second part, thus the venom would only affect the intended party. That same episode also featured a diluted version of the toxin, which only affected fish to make them smile (though as Joker later revealed in "Mad Love
", the toxin is ineffective on piranha
), as part of Joker's plan to sell "Joker Fish" and earn money off product sales (Joker also indicated a possible plan to alter the toxin to affect cattle should the fish plan not work — a hint that Joker could alter the toxin to affect any specific species of life he wished). In "Joker's Wild", he escapes Arkham by pouring a random assortment of janitorial chemicals into a bucket and threatening the guards. ("It's time for everyone's favorite game, 'What's the Joker got in the Pail'?") In later movies and episodes, the venom became more lethal and was used to kill, among others, Sal Valestra in Mask of the Phantasm, two security guards and a researcher in "Holiday Knights", three news casters and a taxi driver in "Beware the Creeper
" and four government agents in the Justice League
episode "Wild Cards"), although Joker also used the non-lethal variant as well. The Joker in that continuity did not appear to be immune to it, as evidenced by his protective helmet in "The Last Laugh". In "Mad Love", there is a scene that shows a newspaper article that features a picture of dozens of mutilated corpses through the Joker Venom. In the episode "Harley & Ivy", Poison Ivy displays immunity towards it due to her immune system
's resistance to toxins. It should also be noted that Joker Venom should not be confused with the acid that the Joker squirts out of the flower on his jacket's lapel, though some variants of the character have dispensed the toxin in this way.
fall victims to it.
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
weapon used by The Joker
Joker (comics)
The Joker is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics. He is the archenemy of Batman, having been directly responsible for numerous tragedies in Batman's life, including the paralysis of Barbara Gordon and the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin...
in the Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
franchise of movies, comics, and cartoons. It has had a variety of names depending on the writer, including Smilex, Smylex, Laughing Gas, Joker Gas, Joker Juice, Laughing Toxin, Laugh-A-loads, Joker Toxin, Happy Gas and Perma-Smile.
Analysis
Joker venom can exist in liquid and gas states and has been used in both lethal and non-lethal applications. The gas form is slightly denser than air and in some portrayals dissipates over time. The effects are similar to both StrychnineStrychnine
Strychnine is a highly toxic , colorless crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine causes muscular convulsions and eventually death through asphyxia or sheer exhaustion...
, which causes muscular convulsions and paralysis, and to the legendary Sardonic herb which supposedly causes facial paralysis
Risus sardonicus
Risus sardonicus is a highly characteristic, abnormal, sustained spasm of the facial muscles that appears to produce grinning.The name of the condition derives from the appearance of raised eyebrows and an open "grin" - which can appear malevolent to the lay observer - displayed by those suffering...
and laughter until the point of death by asphyxiation. In reality, the venom exhibits the combined effects of strychnine poisoning, the real-life hemlock water dropwort
Water dropwort
The water dropworts, Oenanthe , are a genus of plants in the family Apiaceae. Most of the species grow in damp ground, in marshes or in water....
, or Oenanthe crocata, a poisonous plant which causes face muscles to contract into a grin, and nitrous oxide
Nitrous oxide
Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas or sweet air, is a chemical compound with the formula . It is an oxide of nitrogen. At room temperature, it is a colorless non-flammable gas, with a slightly sweet odor and taste. It is used in surgery and dentistry for its anesthetic and analgesic...
, or laughing gas, and therefore most likely kills by asphyxiation.
In a 1980s comic book, the Joker facilitates one of his many escapes from Arkham Asylum
Arkham Asylum
The Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane, commonly referred to simply as Arkham Asylum, is a fictional psychiatric hospital in the DC Comics Universe, usually appearing in stories featuring Batman...
using the venom - by mixing together the common cleaning chemicals found in a janitor's closet.
The DC Technical Manual: S.T.A.R. Labs 1993 Annual Report
In the The DC Technical Manual: S.T.A.R. Labs 1993 Annual Report, a sourcebook for Mayfair'sMayfair Games
Mayfair Games is a publisher of board, card, and roleplaying games. They also license German-style board games and publish them in English throughout the world...
DC Heroes Roleplaying Game
DC Heroes
DC Heroes is an out-of-print superhero role-playing game set in the DC Universe, published by Mayfair Games. Other than sharing the same licensed setting, DC Heroes is unrelated to the West End Games DC Universe....
, Joker Venom is described as "a hellish mixture of hydrogen cyanide and Strychnodide (a strychnine
Strychnine
Strychnine is a highly toxic , colorless crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine causes muscular convulsions and eventually death through asphyxia or sheer exhaustion...
derivative)", which "Causes immediate cessation of heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
and brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
functions. As a side effect, the victim's muscle
Muscle
Muscle is a contractile tissue of animals and is derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ cells. Muscle cells contain contractile filaments that move past each other and change the size of the cell. They are classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscles. Their function is to...
s contract in such a way as to severely tighten and discolor the victim's skin
Skin
-Dermis:The dermis is the layer of skin beneath the epidermis that consists of connective tissue and cushions the body from stress and strain. The dermis is tightly connected to the epidermis by a basement membrane. It also harbors many Mechanoreceptors that provide the sense of touch and heat...
, especially in the facial area. This leaves the victim's corpse permanently scarred with a clown-like grin in tribute to his killer". It also is clear about the toxin's versatility as a gas or liquid, mentioning that "since the Joker Venom is just as deadly if absorbed through the pores as it is if inhaled, the Joker occasionally releases it in gas form throughout the central heating/cooling vents
HVAC
HVAC refers to technology of indoor or automotive environmental comfort. HVAC system design is a major subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer...
of a building."
Batman: The Killing Joke
How exactly Joker knows how to make the venom varies by story. In the graphic novel Batman: The Killing JokeBatman: The Killing Joke
Batman: The Killing Joke is an influential one-shot superhero graphic novel written by Alan Moore and drawn by Brian Bolland. First published by DC Comics in 1988, it has remained in print since then, and has also been reprinted as part of the trade paperback DC Universe: The Stories of Alan...
, it was revealed that the man who would become the Joker once worked in a chemical plant, and may have had some chemical education as a result. The Joker also uses the toxin on the real estate agent who sells him an old carnival, by sticking him with a poisoned needle while shaking the man's hand to seal the deal.
Batman (1989 film)
In the 1989 movieBatman (1989 film)
Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Michael Keaton in the title role, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance...
, when Bruce Wayne reads through the police file on Jack Napier, he learns that Napier, despite his criminal ways, is extremely intelligent and especially gifted in art and chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
. A file sitting on a desk in the Joker's hideout is marked "CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
- DDID Nerve Gas - discontinued 1977" and is filled with photos of dead soldiers with fixed grins on their faces. This indicates that, according to the film's continuity, the toxin is likely derived from an experimental nerve gas developed by the U.S. after the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
Joker venom is the means by which Joker terrorizes Gotham City when he first appears in his new guise, slipping components of the toxin into household products such as cosmetics and cleaning fluids, in such a way that when used together, the products become deadly. In a mock TV commercial, he refers to the "special ingredient" as "Smilex" (alternatively spelled "Smylex") and later attempts to wipe out hundreds of Gothamites with Smilex gas via giant festival balloons. Since the toxin is in the balloons themselves, this would seem to indicate that Joker Venom in this continuity is lighter than air, as it would have to be for the toxin-filled balloons to float.
Batman: The Man Who Laughs
The 2004 graphic novelGraphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
Batman: The Man Who Laughs
Batman: The Man Who Laughs
Batman: The Man Who Laughs is a one-shot prestige format comic book by Ed Brubaker and Doug Mahnke, released in February 2005, and intended as a successor to Batman: Year One....
revealed that Joker, who was created by falling into a vat of chemicals, had stolen them in a plan to poison Gotham City's reservoir, but the plan was foiled by Batman. His brand of Joker venom turns the victim's skin white, tints keratin-containing substances (hair and nails) green (though he's been known to paint them red & black), and turns the victim's lips ruby red. It appeared that the Joker went through several trial runs to get the desired effect, however - the Police discovered a warehouse full of dead bodies all with white skin and green hair, but on some victims, the face muscles were so contracted that the eyes popped out and the skin tore apart. The perfected Joker Venom came in two varieties: a fast acting one used to kill a T.V reporter, and a slower acting one to kill one of his victims at exactly midnight. This same tactic of killing a man at midnight with a slow-acting toxin is repeated from the Joker's first appearance in the Batman comics wherein he does the same thing.
A story arc in Legends of the Dark Knight
Legends of the Dark Knight
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, commonly referred to as simply Legends of the Dark Knight is a DC comic book featuring Batman. It was launched in 1989 with the popularity of the Batman movie, following on from Frank Miller's Batman: Year One...
put Joker venom's origins in a different light altogether. In this arc a cousin of the man who became the Joker named Melvin Reipan, an autistic savant with a gift for chemistry, is persuaded to create the Joker Venom as a way to "make people laugh", in exchange for becoming "handsome". However, Reipan is in fact physically very attractive, only having been told by his abusive
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
mother he was ugly. This story appeared in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #50 and not only revealed the possible origins of Joker Venom, but also told the first battle between Batman and the Joker after his first attempt to destroy the city.
Cacophony
In the story arc, Batman: CacophonyBatman: Cacophony
Batman: Cacophony is the title of a three-issue comic book limited series starring Batman. The series was written by Kevin Smith with art by Walt Flanagan, and ran from November 2008 through March 2009 due to delays with issue three.-History:...
, a gang war between the Joker and Maxie Zeus
Maxie Zeus
Maximillian "Maxie" Zeus is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe. He is a criminal mastermind who believes that he is the god Zeus from Greek mythology. He is an occasional enemy of Batman...
erupts over Maxie Zeus cutting the Joker's venom with Ecstasy to make a new designer drug
Designer drug
Designer drug is a term used to describe drugs that are created to get around existing drug laws, usually by preparing analogs or derivatives of existing drugs by modifying their chemical structure to varying degrees, or less commonly by finding drugs with entirely different chemical structures...
called "Chuckles".
Red Skull's "dust of death"
Marvel ComicsMarvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
has an apparent equivalent to Joker venom in the form of Red Skull
Red Skull
The Red Skull is a name shared by several fictional characters, all supervillains from the Marvel Comics universe. All incarnations of the character are enemies of Captain America, other superheroes, and the United States in general....
's "dust of death", a chemical which turns the head of its victim into a "red skull" resembling that of Red Skull. In a crossover, the Red Skull and the Joker face off against one another, the Joker becomes outraged when he learns that he has unwittingly worked for a Nazi ("I may be a criminal lunatic, but I'm an American criminal lunatic!"), and they employ their favorite toxins on each other. They realize the toxins are useless against each other, as both toxins are strikingly similar at a chemical level and both combatants are immune to their own toxins.
Lethal version
Similar in effect to strychnine poisoning, contact with Joker venom attacks the body's nervous systemNervous system
The nervous system is an organ system containing a network of specialized cells called neurons that coordinate the actions of an animal and transmit signals between different parts of its body. In most animals the nervous system consists of two parts, central and peripheral. The central nervous...
and causes uncontrollable spasm
Spasm
In medicine a spasm is a sudden, involuntary contraction of a muscle, a group of muscles, or a hollow organ, or a similarly sudden contraction of an orifice. It is sometimes accompanied by a sudden burst of pain, but is usually harmless and ceases after a few minutes...
s of laughter, followed by a slow, painful death. Some have speculated that the venom hyperstimulates the laughter functions of the brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
, leaving the victim unable to breathe; others speculate that the toxin's neurological effects cause the electrical impulses controlling the heart to go haywire, causing Tachycardia
Tachycardia
Tachycardia comes from the Greek words tachys and kardia . Tachycardia typically refers to a heart rate that exceeds the normal range for a resting heart rate...
, followed by cardiac arrest and eventual death.
Non-lethal version
The non-lethal variant of Joker venom causes uncontrollable laughter, but instead of dying, their faces are usually pulled into an unusually large grin and they are placed in a temporary coma. Artists often stylize the effects, adding yellowed teeth, bulging eyes, etc. similar to the features of the Joker himself. Some versions of the Joker use this type of Joker venom almost exclusively, either for practical reasons or because that universe is intended for a younger audience (as in the case of the DC Animated UniverseDC animated universe
The DC Animated Universe is a fan term that refers to a series of popular animated television series and related spin-offs produced by Warner Bros. Animation which share the same continuity. Most of these series are adapted from DC Comics properties...
).
Prolonged exposure even to non-fatal Joker venom is highly dangerous, as it can cause permanent brain damage
Brain damage
"Brain damage" or "brain injury" is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors...
, leading to severe and permanent mental illness with delusions, hallucinations, paranoia, and mania.
Comics
Joker venom has been a part of the Joker's arsenal since his first appearance in Batman #1 (1940), in which both Batman and the Joker himself are subjected to it. The venom is often deployed as an airborne agent, but can also be used in its liquid form (used both to poison victims through their unwitting consumption of it, coating the edges of his razor cards, or in special darts or needles). It has also been mixed into pies for throwing in earlier incarnations of the character. In the story "The Laughing Fish", the venom was injected into fish and then passed along into cats to attack the target and administer the venom. Also in this same the episode, the venom is administered in two parts through first using perfume, then later breathing the other half of the compound in. In The Killing JokeBatman: The Killing Joke
Batman: The Killing Joke is an influential one-shot superhero graphic novel written by Alan Moore and drawn by Brian Bolland. First published by DC Comics in 1988, it has remained in print since then, and has also been reprinted as part of the trade paperback DC Universe: The Stories of Alan...
, Joker uses a spike worn in his palm (similar to a Joy Buzzer
Joy Buzzer
A joy buzzer is a practical joke device that consists of a coiled spring inside a disc worn in the palm of the hand...
) to administer the drug in a handshake. In The Man Who Laughs
The Man Who Laughs
The Man Who Laughs is a novel by Victor Hugo, originally published in April 1869 under the French title L'Homme qui rit. Also published under the title By Order of the King...
the Joker uses bullets laced with Joker Venom in order to kill another of his selected targets. In Jeph Loeb
Jeph Loeb
Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III is an American film and television writer, producer and award-winning comic book writer. Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series Smallville and Lost, writer for the films Commando and Teen Wolf and was a writer and Co-Executive Producer on the NBC TV show Heroes from its...
's and Tim Sale
Tim Sale (artist)
Tim Sale is an American Eisner Award-winning comic book artist. He is primarily known for his collaborations with writer Jeph Loeb.-Early life:...
's Catwoman: When in Rome
Catwoman: When in Rome
Catwoman: When in Rome is a DC Comics six-issue miniseries written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Tim Sale. Sale took inspiration for his art from Rene Gruau, French/Italian fashion illustrator....
Joker venom is duplicated by the Riddler to blame Catwoman for the murder of a Sicilian
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
kingpin. It is referred to as Joker Juice by both Catwoman and The Riddler.
Batman: The Animated Series
In this series, Joker venom (known as Joker toxin throughout the series) was almost exclusively a non-lethal gas, or, as seen more often, infected individuals are almost always cured before death (the venom doesn't kill as quickly in the series). It was also used as part of a binary compoundBinary compound
A binary compound is a chemical compound that contains exactly two different elements. Examples of binary ionic compounds include calcium chloride , sodium fluoride , and magnesium oxide , whilst examples of binary covalent compounds include water , carbon monoxide , and sulfur hexafluoride...
in an episode called "The Laughing Fish", in which selected targets were exposed to part of the compound and later gassed with the second part, thus the venom would only affect the intended party. That same episode also featured a diluted version of the toxin, which only affected fish to make them smile (though as Joker later revealed in "Mad Love
Mad Love (comic)
The Batman Adventures: Mad Love is a one-shot comic book written by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm...
", the toxin is ineffective on piranha
Piranha
A piranha or piraña is a member of family Characidae in order Characiformes, an omnivorous freshwater fish that inhabits South American rivers. In Venezuela, they are called caribes...
), as part of Joker's plan to sell "Joker Fish" and earn money off product sales (Joker also indicated a possible plan to alter the toxin to affect cattle should the fish plan not work — a hint that Joker could alter the toxin to affect any specific species of life he wished). In "Joker's Wild", he escapes Arkham by pouring a random assortment of janitorial chemicals into a bucket and threatening the guards. ("It's time for everyone's favorite game, 'What's the Joker got in the Pail'?") In later movies and episodes, the venom became more lethal and was used to kill, among others, Sal Valestra in Mask of the Phantasm, two security guards and a researcher in "Holiday Knights", three news casters and a taxi driver in "Beware the Creeper
Beware the Creeper
Beware the Creeper is the name of two comic book series published by DC Comics. The first debuted in 1968 and starred the Creeper. This series was cancelled after six issues...
" and four government agents in the Justice League
Justice League
The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
episode "Wild Cards"), although Joker also used the non-lethal variant as well. The Joker in that continuity did not appear to be immune to it, as evidenced by his protective helmet in "The Last Laugh". In "Mad Love", there is a scene that shows a newspaper article that features a picture of dozens of mutilated corpses through the Joker Venom. In the episode "Harley & Ivy", Poison Ivy displays immunity towards it due to her immune system
Immune system
An immune system is a system of biological structures and processes within an organism that protects against disease by identifying and killing pathogens and tumor cells. It detects a wide variety of agents, from viruses to parasitic worms, and needs to distinguish them from the organism's own...
's resistance to toxins. It should also be noted that Joker Venom should not be confused with the acid that the Joker squirts out of the flower on his jacket's lapel, though some variants of the character have dispensed the toxin in this way.
The Batman
Both versions of the venom are used in the new cartoon. The non-lethal version is weaponized as a gas and seems to dissipate over time. The gas is called "laughing gas," and puts its victims into a coma. Batman provided an antidote to this laughing gas. However, Joker also has a lethal version which is a liquid. The effects of this venom are the same as the one used in the Joker's first appearance in the comics (a venom which takes 24 hours to kill). In the meantime, the victim slowly has increasing bouts of uncontrollable laughter until they are unable to breathe and die with Joker's trademark grin. In one episode, Batman was infected with the venom, but was able to create a cure before it was too late. The lethal venom is also explosive, as shown in "The End of the Batman", where Wrath and ScornWrath (comics)
The Wrath is the name of two fictional comic book supervillains published by DC Comics. The original Wrath debuted in Batman Special #1 , and was created by Mike W. Barr and Michael Golden...
fall victims to it.