Joker's Nickname for Red Hood Confirms the Real Way He Broke Jason Todd

Joker's nickname for Red Hood shows that he completely understands how he broke Jason Todd, and what he predicts for the vigilante's future.

While Jason Todd was ultimately resurrected after the Joker murdered him in cold blood, it turns out the Harlequin of Hate perfectly understands how deeply he scarred the boy who would become Red Hood, summing up his lingering trauma in an outrageously callous way.

Jason Todd was Batman's second Robin, slain during Death in the Family (from Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo) when Joker beat him almost to death with a crowbar, then planted a bomb that ultimately killed him. Of course, readers played a part in this horrific end - a fan vote chose to kill Jason by a slim margin - but even after he returned to life, Red Hood maintained an abiding hatred of Joker that drove him to murder criminals so that innocents would be spared. While Jason recently swore off lethal tactics and rejoined the Bat-Family, his rage remains, and Joker couldn't be happier about it.

In Three Jokers - from Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok - Red Hood, Batman, and Batgirl investigate the claim that there are secretly three versions of the Clown Prince of Crime. It turns out that there are many more than that, as Joker has struck on a plan to create the 'next' Joker by transforming Joe Chill, the killer of Bruce Wayne's parents, into his ultimate nightmare. In an aside to the Dark Knight, Joker admits that Chill wasn't the only candidate he considered, saying that he also thought about transforming "the cripple" and "the child" - Barbara Gordon and Jason Todd.

Both nicknames Joker gives Batman's allies are despicable, but they're also a fascinating window into his psyche. Joker caused spinal damage to Barbara Gordon after shooting her in her home, forcing her to retire as Batgirl, and murdered Jason when he was just a boy. Horrifyingly, Joker's nickname immediately gets to the unfortunate truth that Jason has never truly been able to heal or grow past this moment. He is in many ways still the broken, desperate child who died that way, lashing out against the father who couldn't save him while enacting his trauma on anyone who so much as reminds him of Joker.

While Joker wasn't able to permanently take Red Hood's life, he did warp it forever, leaving Jason Todd trapped in a state of psychological adolescence that causes him continuous pain and makes him unable to maintain romantic or platonic relationships without eventually blowing them up around him. Jason isn't "the child" because of his innate personality (though he has always been brash), but because Joker trapped part of him in childhood. Joker's nicknames for Batgirl and Red Hood are fittingly the things he feels he did to them - the only relevance they have when viewed solely through the lens of his rivalry with Batman.

Of course, the irony is that even as he continues a cycle of recrimination with Batman, Jason Todd is suffering through exactly what Bruce Wayne struggled with following the murder of his parents. Each suffered a childhood trauma so shattering that ever moving past it seems impossible. Thankfully, while he might be insightful, Joker is also ultimately wrong, allowing his ego and cynicism to fool him into believing that Red Hood will never grow beyond his darkest moment - in fact, thanks to his friends and allies, Jason has already started this process.

Next: Joker's Final Insult to Red Hood Redefines Their Whole Relationship