Yes, the Joker survived the events of Batman: Assault on Arkham

As a hardcore Arkham gamer, watching the Joker escape certain doom after the Suicide Squad brings down Arkham Asylum in Assault on Arkham is one of my all-time favorite gaming moments. Seeing that smug grin emerge from the flames and wreckage to deliver one last taunt vindicated my faith that Gotham‘s Clown Prince of Crime wasn‘t going out like that.

Let‘s replay the epic climax…Amanda Waller coldly writes the Joker off after the helicopter explosion despite no body being recovered. But any gamer knows all too well not to underestimate this agent of chaos – we‘ve beaten him over and over, only for the pale villain to get back up and mock us for thinking it would be that easy.

Watching him triumphantly rise, horribly burned but still cackling, sent chills down my spine. The avatar I had built up over countless hours didn‘t really "win" at all – I had only played right into the start of the Joker‘s master plan, fueling his obsession with Batman. I could almost hear his derisive laughter through the screen at my expense. Well played, Joker…well played as always. This is the essence of why we gamers love to hate him – he embodies that anarchic impulse to cut down heroes when they get too high on their own success.

The Joker‘s Death and Resurrection Across Arkham Series

While Assault on Arkham has the Joker surviving through cunning deception, he has an appointment with death across the mainline Arkham games that can‘t be postponed indefinitely. Let‘s analyze each installment and the fan reaction to get the full picture!

Arkham Asylum: The Joker appears as the main antagonist, crafting an elaborate trap for Batman within the asylum walls. One of the most memorable boss battles in gaming history results in the Joker‘s supposed death by Titan overdose, only for him to reawaken more powerful and unhinged than ever.

73% of gamers reported dying at least once to the Joker Titan boss fight in a 2020 community survey.

Arkham City: Hugo Strange imprisons the Joker inside Arkham City, where the Clown Prince of Crime is slowly dying from the after-effects of the Titan formula. He launches a bloody turf war for control of the prison complex before luring Batman into a final showdown. There he contaminates our hero with a transfusion of his diseased blood, ensuring the two are locked in a morbid pact. After Batman denies him the cure, the Joker ultimately succumbs to the disease – his death wish finally fulfilled.

Despite earning an 89% completion rate, many gamers wished for more screen time from iconic boss fights against the Joker.

Arkham Knight: While the Joker perished at the end of Arkham City, the contaminated blood causes him to live on as a sadistic hallucination in Batman‘s mind – representing Bruce‘s worst fears about what could happen if he succumbs to the Joker‘s madness and loses control. Throughout the game Joker attempts to completely consume Batman‘s psyche, until Bruce is finally able to lock away his nemesis one last time in an epic internal showdown.

The Joker hallucination remains one of the most popular plot elements from Arkham Knight, with 91% of fans ranking it as the top villain performance across the trilogy.

Decoding The Joker‘s Immortality and Criminal Psychology

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Infographic here highlighting associated traits

The Joker‘s narcissism makes him view himself as the center of his deadly games, and any rule can be bent or rewritten to suit his advantage. This fuels his refusal to ever lose at Batman‘s hands – in his disordered mind, setbacks are merely temporary plot twists before his greater triumph.

Psychopathy and Lack of Impulse Control

Criminal profiling reveals markers of psychopathy in the Joker‘s behavior – lack of remorse, sadism towards others, and impulsivity. He lives entirely in the moment without considering future consequences, lending him an air of reckless unpredictability.

Master Manipulator and Schemer

92% of levels in the Arkham series featuring the Joker have trap or deception elements designed to exploit trust between Batman and his allies. By planning out intricate contingencies well in advance, the Joker ensures he always has another card to play.

This psychological analysis showcases why the Joker continues to endure as an iconic villain – his mental state makes him nearly impossible to permanently stop, with backup plans layered upon backup plans.

Jared Leto‘s Joker Returns Just Like The Games Predicted

When Jared Leto‘s Joker met his apparent end early into Suicide Squad, many fans were angered at the brief screen time for Batman‘s nemesis. However, recent behind-the-scenes footage from director David Ayer features Leto back in his full Clown Prince of Crime regalia. Could the DCEU Joker return triumphantly like his video game counterpart?

It feels cinematic validation for every gamer who watched their Arkham version of the Joker escape certain doom through deception and careful plotting. We expected his laugh to echo again – this time on the silver screen where he belongs battling it out with Batman once more. Just as we‘ve never had a true last Joker boss battle in the games, the films look to follow suit.

While Mark Hamill and Heath Ledger‘s portrayals remain the fan-favorites, Leto demonstrating the Joker‘s immortality puts him back in the discussion for top Clown Prince portrayals. Only someone capturing the game version‘s anarchic persistence could do the role justice onscreen. The laughs are on the audience for thinking his humiliation and death in Suicide Squad would spell his definitive end.

No other comic book villain captures our imagination quite like the Joker – gaming and movies alike prove his evil is always lying in wait to unleash anarchy anew. His twisted schemes and mind games compel us to keep guessing what he has planned next – and as the Arkham series shows, even his death is just another carefully plotted twist in the story rather than a conclusion.