DC Database
Advertisement
DC Database
DC Database
130,866
pages
in: Bad Characters, Public Identity, Americans,
and 28 more

Alexis Kaye (Prime Earth)

Sign in to edit

You know, my new friend, Punchline... she might just be the funniest gal I've ever met in my life. She knows this trick with a rusty saw that really puts the boys in stitches. If they survive of course.
— The Joker src

Punchline was the Joker's right-hand woman, and is now the leader of Gotham's Royal Flush Gang.

Origins

Punchline Prime Earth 0003

Alexis Kaye before Punchline

Alexis Kaye was a senior in high school when she had her first encounter with the Joker, while on a field trip to a TV studio. The Joker had hijacked the studio and forced Alexis at gunpoint to act as a newsreader and deliver his message to the citizens of Gotham. The stunt however was interrupted by Batman and Alexis was saved, but she developed an obsession with the Joker. She quickly came to believe that the Joker's crimes served a greater purpose.

She started an online podcast dedicated to the Joker and thoroughly researched all of his past crimes. Eventually, she created her own costume and began poisoning people around Gotham to attract the Joker's attention.[1] The Joker saw potential in her and taught her how to create a modified form of Joker Venom, which she used to experiment on the homeless community.

Alexis went to Snyder College, where dean Bob was concerned with her behavior and went to talk to her, but she murdered him with her form of Joker Venom. This was before finally adopting the persona of Punchline and thus successfully proving herself to the Joker.[2]

Road to Joker War

Punchline was hired as a new underboss by the Joker in preparation for his coming war against Batman after Superman revealed his secret identity to the world, and Joker decided that a final battle with Batman using his secret identity in play would be fun.[3] Punchline was at first assigned for a stake-out on Catwoman who had gone to dig up a Joker-lookalike's corpse after receiving a message from the Designer, not knowing it was the body of the Joker's gang member Artie. Punchline informed the Joker about Catwoman and Harley Quinn having found Artie's body, but he stated it was okay as he had to meet a few people first.[4]

During Lex Luthor's battle against The Batman Who Laughs, Punchline held Mercy Graves hostage while Joker dealt with Lex for using the help of the Dark Multiverse's Batman despite his warnings. Joker however let both go, stating it was a joke all along and Lex had got what he needed.[5]

She encountered Catwoman and Harley Quinn while working with Underbroker and fought Harley.[6] Punchline cut Harley's neck and ordered her body to be dumped into the river. She then wounded Catwoman and used the account numbers Catwoman had stolen to steal the entire Wayne fortune from Batman for the Joker.[7]

Joker War

With Joker in control of the Wayne fortune and Underbroker in control of Wayne Enterprises, Punchline went in to capture Lucius Fox, poisoning him to take control of Batman's equipment. When Batman returned to the building, Punchline was waiting for him, catching him by surprise with the new Batsuit Lucius had designed for him. Punchline mocked him for losing everything and infected him with a hallucinogenic version of the Joker Serum, forcing Batman to flee.[8]

Batman Vol 3 98 Textless

Punchline vs. Harley Quinn

At Tricorner Yards, Punchline and Underbroker double checked the arriving shipments of chemicals so they could make a larger batch of her Joker Serum variant. They learned of a clown-themed vigilante, Clownhunter, attacking Joker's gang members, but Punchline forced Joker's goons to get over it. She warned Joker of Clownhunter and Batman's continued existence, but he was unworried, telling her to send some of his tougher thugs to take care of Clownhunter before going off to kill Harley Quinn.[9]

Finding Harley Quinn and Batman in Eden, a forest area hidden underneath Gotham that Poison Ivy made for Harley, Punchline proceeded to try and torch the place before Harley shot her with a flamethrower. As they fought, Punchline taunted Harley for ever believing she could reach the Joker's heart. When Punchline said the Joker truly loved her for "understanding" him, Harley lashed out, telling her that he's nothing more than a manipulator and she's just his latest victim, and that all he cared about was Batman. Furious, Punchline broke away, ready to kill Batman to prove her point. However, she arrived just as Batman had broken free of her drug thanks to a concoction Harley had given him earlier. Her defeat at Batman's hands was quick.[10]Before the GCPD could arrest her, Punchline was rescued by her henchmen from the Joker Gang. She tells the Joker that Batman must be working on some kind of counter, but Joker already knows what he's going to do. He wants her to prepared to the gran finale . As he starts killing every clown inside Ace Chemical, Joker puts bounties out: a hundred bucks for every corpse, a million bucks for every corpse of a Batman Family member. He needs to have as much public for his Gotham Cut of the Mask of Zorro as possible.[11]

Not long after, Punchline saw the explosion at Ace Chemicals and found it strange as it was still the right time to release the Joker Venom. She was angered as the tide of the war was turning in the heroes' favor as she was unable to contact any of her henchmen and Underbroker told her that the deal had been canceled because the amount of money they paid him had been stolen by Catwoman, The Riddler and The Penguin. Waiting for the inevitable, she left a message on her phone for the Joker saying that she remembered what the next step of her plan was, that she still believed in his message, and that above all, she still loved him. Soon after Nightwing arrived with the members of the Batman Family to arrest Punchline, a fight ensued between Punchline and the Joker Gang against the Batman Family. Despite their efforts, Punchline was defeated and left to the authorities.

The Trial of Alexis Kaye

Alexis Kaye decides to lie to Gotham, claiming that she was a victim of the Joker and succeeding in getting many people to sympathize with her. [12] She later attended a court appearance that was supposed to determine whether she was mentally fit to stand trial. Alexis stated that she did not suffer from any psychological trauma and believed herself to be innocent. This was despite multiple charges and evidence against her, with her potentially facing capital punishment. Dr. Leslie Thompkins was in attendance to provide expert evidence on Alexis Kaye's psychological state and believed she was fit to stand trial. She was then taken to a prison vehicle for transport, where the guards were actually loyal to the Joker and looked to help her. Kaye sent a live video feed as she claimed she was innocent and that she was a victim of the Clown Prince of Crime, gaining public support. As the date was set for her trial, Punchline's growing fame, attention and sympathy led to large crowd attending the event. At the same time, her most dedicated followers began hunting and killing the witnesses who could testify against her.[13]

Expand

This section of the article does not provide a complete profile of the subject. You can help out by providing additional information, expanding on the subject matter in order to bring this article to a higher standard of quality.

This template will categorize articles that include it into Category:Incomplete Articles.

The Gotham Game

Expand

This section of the article does not provide a complete profile of the subject. You can help out by providing additional information, expanding on the subject matter in order to bring this article to a higher standard of quality.

This template will categorize articles that include it into Category:Incomplete Articles.

Trigger Warning

Expand

This section of the article does not provide a complete profile of the subject. You can help out by providing additional information, expanding on the subject matter in order to bring this article to a higher standard of quality.

This template will categorize articles that include it into Category:Incomplete Articles.



Abilities

  • Acrobatics[14]
  • Charisma: Punchline has proven to be extremely charismatic and manipulative, capable of convincing and manipulating people to believe whatever she wants. She even used the stories from her podcast about the Joker to convince most of Gotham's population of her innocence and sanity, thus gaining fanatical followers in all places and spheres of life, not only in the GCPD, the Prison or Gotham City Hall, but also around the world. [15]
    • Deception:Alexis proved to be a great liar, using her podcast and the right words to convince the majority of Gotham's population that her actions during the Joker War were a result of radicalization and that she was used by the Joker in his plans. In addition, she also knew how to act perfectly in court, convincing the jurors to declare her innocent.[12][16]
      • Acting: Alexis knew how to play an excellent role as a victim to convince the people of Gotham, especially young people, of her innocence. Her performance was so good that the members of the court considered her mentally sane and sent her to Blackgate Penitentiary instead of Arkham Asylum to await trial.[17]
  • Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic)[7]
  • Leadership: Punchline is a skilled planner able to co-lead and carry out task's for the Joker's gang and later become the leader of the Royal Flush Gang. [8][18]
  • Mimicry[19]
  • Toxicology[2]
  • Weaponry: Punchline wields two daggers which she uses with skill. She was able to seriously wound Harley Quinn and injure Catwoman in her first fight against them.[7]


Weapons


  • Punchline's creator James Tynion IV revealed her last name was "Kaye" in an IGN interview before it was officially confirmed within a series.[21]
  • James Tynion IV has stated that she is intended as an anti-Harley Quinn, being a silent and intimidating serial killer and the fact that the Joker seems to actually care about her.[22]

Related

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Punchline #1
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Joker 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1
  3. ↑ Batman (Volume 3) #85-89
  4. ↑ Batman (Volume 3) #89
  5. ↑ Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #3
  6. ↑ Batman (Volume 3) #92
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Batman (Volume 3) #93
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Batman (Volume 3) #95
  9. ↑ Batman (Volume 3) #97
  10. ↑ Batman (Volume 3) #98
  11. ↑ Batman (Volume 3) #99
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Batman (Volume 3) #100
  13. ↑ Punchline #1
  14. ↑ Nightwing (Volume 4) #72
  15. ↑ Punchline #1
  16. ↑ The Joker (Volume 2) #13
  17. ↑ Punchline #1
  18. ↑ The Joker (Volume 2) #4
  19. ↑ Nightwing (Volume 4) #73
  20. ↑ Batman (Volume 3) #95
  21. ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/batman-joker-war-exclusive-secret-identity-punchline-clownhunter-dc
  22. ↑ Rich Johnston (February 17, 2020). 'Punchline Should Be The Devil' – James Tynion IV and Jorge Jimenez's Designs on Joker's New Girlfriend. Bleeding Cool. Retrieved on March 26, 2020.


Batman Villain(s)
This character, team or organization, has been primarily an enemy of the Batman, or the Batman Family as a whole. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Batman Villains."

Legion of Doom member
This character is or was a member of the Legion of Doom, a team of supervillains called together for the purpose of conquering the world and defeating the Super Friends, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Legion of Doom members" category.

Royal Flush Gang member

This character is or was a member of the Royal Flush Gang, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Royal Flush Gang members."

Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
More Fandoms
Advertisement