Is the Joker a Psychopath?

Diagnosing an iconic comic villain.

Scott Bonn, Ph.D.,

Posted November 24, 2019 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma

The Joker is an iconic villain and arch-rival of Batman in DC Comics. In recent years he
has been brilliantly portrayed on the big screen by the late Heath Ledger in The Dark
Knight and most recently by Joaquin Phoenix in the film Joker. Because the Joker is
perhaps the most high profile, enigmatic and beloved comic villain of all time I find it
interesting to consider his possible criminal motivations and the pathologies of his mental
state.

When discussing the Joker character, authors, critics, comic fans, and the general public
often refer to him as a psychopath. As a criminologist who studies mental disorders, I
would say that whether or not the Joker really is a psychopath depends upon which of the
two memorable film depictions of him mentioned above you are watching.

Paranoid schizophrenia by Thomas Zapata

Source: CC BY-SA 4.0

In The Dark Knight, the Joker is a loner (solitario), glib (elocuente), unemotional and very
violent. These behavioral traits are very consistent with psychopathy. The fifth edition of
the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), released by the APA
in 2013, lists psychopathy under the heading of Antisocial Personality Disorders (ASPD).
The APA estimates that approximately 1 percent of U.S. adults are psychopaths.

Generally speaking, like the Joker, psychopaths are intelligent, glib, and articulate and they
use these attributes to manipulate others into trusting and believing in them. However, a
number of the attitudes and behaviors common to psychopaths are distinctly predatory in
nature and they tend to view others as either competitive predators or prey, as Heath
Ledger’s Joker certainly did.

When psychopaths view others as prey, their lack (falta) of feeling and bonding
(vinculación) to others allows them to have unusual clarity in observing the behavior of
their intended (previstas) victims. As demonstrated by the Joker in The Dark Knight,
psychopaths are unencumbered (no están sujetos) by the anxieties and emotions that normal
people experience in interpersonal encounters. This is because psychopaths are unable to
form emotional attachments or feel real empathy with others, although (aunque) they often
(a menudo) have disarming (cautivadoras) even charming (encantadoras) personalities.

Psychopathy is the most dangerous of all antisocial personality disorders. When committing
crimes, psychopaths carefully plan out every detail in advance and often have contingency
plans in place. Psychopathic criminals tend to be cool (fríos), calm, and very meticulous.
They make few mistakes and are never undone (nunca los deshacen) by their emotions.

At one point in The Dark Knight, the Joker asks, “Do I really look like a guy with a plan?”
In fact, the Joker did have a well-developed plan in the film but ironically it was to create
societal disruption and chaos for his own amusement.

In contrast, Arthur Fleck (aka, the Joker) as brilliantly portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix in
Joker is psychologically tormented and has lost his connection to reality. His agonizing
descent into madness in the film is both powerful and troubling to watch. In every respect,
he is a man who is falling to pieces and appears to become suicidal right before our eyes.

Arguably, Fleck’s feelings of persecution and his delusions are consistent with the mental
disorder paranoid schizophrenia. According to the Mayo Clinic, slightly more than 1
percent of the U.S. population suffers from schizophrenia.

The DSM-5 says that schizophrenia is a severe and chronic mental disorder characterized
by disturbances in thought, perception, and behavior. The diagnosis of schizophrenia
involves the recognition of an array of symptoms that negatively impact one’s social or
occupational functioning. Such symptoms include hallucinations and delusions,
disorganized speech, grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior, and diminished emotional
expression.

The paranoia in paranoid schizophrenia comes from delusions—firmly held beliefs that
persist despite evidence to the contrary—and hallucinations—seeing or hearing that which
others do not. Significantly, Arthur Fleck manifested this trait throughout Joker. His
gradual descent into madness in the film is fraught with delusions that are nearly impossible
to separate from reality, even for the viewer.

Moreover, Arthur Fleck demonstrated inappropriate affect in the film whenever he would
laugh at socially incongruous times or in the absence of a stimulus. This is very consistent
with schizophrenia.
Unlike Heath Ledger’s Joker, the Arthur Fleck character portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix
demonstrates a full range of human emotions but is deeply disturbed and delusional to such
an extent that he simply cannot function normally in the world. When Fleck completes his
break from reality toward the end of the film and is transformed almost majestically into
the Joker, he is reborn as the master of his own schizophrenic universe.

It seems to me that the nature and extent of the Joker’s mental pathology depend upon
which brilliant actor’s portrayal of him you are watching: Heath Ledger or Joaquin
Phoenix. Of course, all of this is academic conjecture because the Joker character is not real
and is subject to interpretation. Nevertheless, I think that using scientific knowledge to
better understand an iconic fictional, criminal character is a fun and educational exercise.