TheJokeris well - known by risible book fans asBatman’sinsane enemy … but what specific mental illness does he actually have ? The Clown Prince of Crime has seemingly broken ever conceivable law in Gotham City , ranging from lilliputian theft to mass murder on a metropolis - wide-eyed scale . All of his crimes are linked through his perverted common sense of humorand his desire to work " antic " on his victims- and therein lies a clue to the Joker ’s   specific   genial wellness malady ( and whether or not he can actually be cured ) .

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Bipolar Disorder   is a common diagnosing among fans ; the Joker can indeed be have by sudden mood baseball swing and ira - but that does n’t explicate his propensity to murder ( or show little to no self-reproach after the fact ) . Dissociative Identity Disorder ( incorrectly described as Multiple Personality Disorder ) is often impart up as well , but the Joker has seldom shown other personalities likethe split that delineate Harvey Dent and Two - boldness . But one medical diagnosing describes the Joker ’s symptoms to a T : Witzelsucht .

Comic book art: Batman faces the four Robins: Nightwing Dick Grayson, Red Hood Jason Todd, Red Robin Tim Drake, and Robin Damian Wayne.

Those who suffer from Witzelsucht ( German from " addicted to antic " or " joke dependency " ) experience compelled to make puns and tell inappropriate joke at out or keeping time . They often have head-on lobe damage and an neutered sense of humor ; they witness slapstick and paronomasia rum than other , long - strain jokes because they often have trouble   get in touch the setup of a joke to a punchline . This mean they are perfectly equal to oftellinga joke , but have difficultyunderstandingthe jocularity of others . Joker rarely laughs at the joke of others(unless they ’re the butt of a joke thanks to their own action ) and pain is indeed a large part of slapstick comedy . Unfortunately , it appear the Jokercan’t tell how much nuisance is too much- and even murder is funny to him .

There is a intervention for Witzelsucht : the antidepressant Venlafaxine can alleviate symptoms in some patients . Unfortunately , the diagnosing is incredibly rare , and a belittled sample size of it do blanket studies hard . If he does indeed stomach from Witzelsucht , there is still Bob Hope for theJoker- but his case is particularly wicked , not to mentiondangerous for anyone attempting to aid him .

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Comic book art: batman by arkham asylum

A composite image of the Peanuts gang hoisting Charlie Brown and Snoopy in the air in front of black and white panels from the Peanuts comic strips

Joker laughing and clutching his green hair in The Killing Joke.

Joker laughing in DC comics.

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