The Joker Confirms His “One Bad Day” Didn’t Make Him Evil

The Joker’s infamous ‘one bad day’ theory made famous by The Killing Joke might actually be disproven by the guffawing villain himself.

While Joker went to extreme lengths to prove his ‘one bad day’ philosophy, it seems that even he doesn’t buy into his own theory. Azrael: Agent of the Bat #83 sees the Clown Prince of Crime admit that one of his most iconic plots was always flawed.

The DC Universe is haunted by some truly villainous presences, but none are as terrifying as the Harlequin of Hate, the Joker. For years, Gotham and the greater world have been victim of his deadly gags and sinister pranks, to the point where he’s become a legend among supervillains. But the Joker outdid himself when it came to cruelty and terror in the seminal story, The Killing Joke. Joker kidnapped Batman’s ally Commissioner Gordon and mentally and physically tortured him in order to prove that one bad day was all it takes in order to drive someone to the point of insanity.

Related: Joker’s Grossest Killing Spree Was Also His Smartest Escape Plan

Even Joker Knew The ‘One Bad Day’ Concept Was Wrong

But according to the villainous clown himself, it seems that the Joker doesn’t genuinely abide by that ideology. In Azrael: Agent of the Bat #83 by Dennis O’Neil and Sergio Cariello, the Joker is in the middle of his ultimate plan to Jokerize the residents of the Slab, a prison for metahuman criminals and villains. Unfortunately, Sister Lilhy of the Order of St. Dumas has come to the Slab to see if she’s actually evil by comparing herself to the Joker. The clown beckons Lilhy to travel further into the Slab, only for her to breathe in the Joker’s toxin and become Jokerized. Joker tells Lilhy that his concoction will be the ultimate test of what’s inside her. Good or bad, her true self is going to come out as a result of the toxins.

While the Joker’s past is unknown, it’s practically a given that a trip into a vat of chemicals is what gave the Joker his origin. And in the same way the chemicals transformed him forever, Joker uses similar ones in his Joker Venom to kill or alter his victims permanently. However, Joker implied repeatedly during The Killing Joke that it was his worst day that turned him into the villain he is. But here, the clown suggests the chemicals brought out something that was in him all along.

Joker’s Chemical Bath Revealed Who He Really Was

Obviously the Joker’s idea was flawed as he put Gordon through the wringer, and he came out on the other side just as sane as he was before. But according to the Joker, the idea of ‘one bad day’ turning someone to the dark side isn’t actually a thing. Regardless of the events that preceded it, the chemical bath he took simply brought out his worst instincts, implying that whatever his past, he was a monster inside the whole time.

Maybe his scheme in The Killing Joke was just another chance to sew discord in Gotham, because it seems that Joker doesn’t genuinely believe in the ‘one bad day’ theory.

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