The Joker Fish or Laughing Fish were fish exposed to Joker Venom.
History
Once, these poor creatures were but normal fish. The Joker decided to market his own image and so he poisoned the Gotham City water system with his special Joker Venom chemicals, turning tons of ordinary herring and cod into diabolical Joker Fish. The Joker approached copyright clerk G. Carl Francis and expressed his desires to trademark his new Joker-Fish line. The terrified commissioner explained that he could not copyright a fish for him, but the Joker wouldn't hear it. He gave Francis until midnight to register his trademark or else he would kill him. Naturally, the copyright clerk did not possess the ability to grant the Joker's wishes, so the Joker made good on his promise and murdered him at the stroke of midnight. He then went through the channels, threatening the next in line with a similar fate unless his fish... err... wish was granted.
The Batman determined that the next bureaucrat in the Joker's crosshairs was Thomas Jackson. He attempted to save Jackson by impersonating him in his home, but the Joker trumped him yet again. He fed one of his Joker-Fish to Jackson's tabby cat who, in turn, was Jokerized itself. The cat attacked the real Jackson and the venomous bite killed him instantly. Batman followed up on the case and soon confronted the Joker, defeating him in combat. As a result, the Joker never received the patent on his Joker-Fish and he abandoned the scheme soon after.
Some Joker Fish managed to escape into the wild and the Joker Toxin they had been infected with contaminated the food chain. Batman teamed up with Aquaman and Mera to try to round up the fish in the ocean, and they discovered an anomaly in the Atlantic which Arthur recognised as a portal to the mythical "Sea Beyond the Veil". Creare, an immense sea creature which ruled the Sea Beyond the Veil, was drawn into their world and attacked in panic, but Aquaman realised that it simply wanted to go home and so Batman used the Bat-Sub to drag it back through the portal. Once it was home, Creare calmed and produced a cure for the Joker Fish.[1]
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
- Intimidation: As Batman noted to a fisherman, the Joker-Fish is but one element of the Joker's ever-growing attempt to perpetuate fear in the community.
- Swimming: They can swim side to side and even up and down.
Notes
- The Joker Fish were also seen in two episodes of Batman: The Animated Series. They were the central plot point to "The Laughing Fish", and they also made a brief appearance in the Joker vignette in "Almost Got 'Im". They also appear in The Brave and Bold episode called "Emperor Joker".
See Also