What Disease Does The Joker Have?

The Joker has been one of the Dark Knight's most iconic foes for decades. Everyone knows there's something wrong with the Joker, but is there actually a medical explanation to what makes him tick? Kyle checks into Arkham to investigate in this week's Because Science!
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Because Science every Thursday.
Learn More:
JOKER INFECTION: arkhamcity.fandom.com/wiki/Jo...
PRION: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prion
CJD: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creutzf...
KURU: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuru_(d...)
MECHANISMS OF TSES: smw.ch/en/article/doi/smw.201...
KURU SORCERY: books.google.ie/books?id=f0Ye...

[@ashleywatson5301]

What is your disease? 2019 joker: Society...

[@jeggsonvohees2201]

I thought he had super sanity.

[@jeromescultleader535]

@@jeggsonvohees2201 Joaquin Phoenix Joker

[@jeggsonvohees2201]

@@jeromescultleader535 Ah.

[@kronoscamron7412]

THIS... FUCKIN THIS

[@God-ch8lq]

gamers rise up

[@PackedLunch.]

I wonder if you can find out what’s in scarecrows gas?

[@El_Vuego]

I also always wondered what scarecrows gas was all about.

[@Thr4kus]

Bump!

[@1TVMN]

Hallucinogenic gas

[@goblinking3151]

Yes! Doing it!

[@xwolfking7733]

This is certainly one I would like to see as well

[@NorthstriderGaming]

"What disease does the Joker have?" Yes.

[@lahvv_6935]

North Strider this man has stds too Lmao

[@justinskywalker]

"Some men just want to watch the world burn"

[@shaggy6516]

all of them

[@Arkhamnerdfrfr]

YES

[@501thtrooper4]

All of the above

[@henkman00]

also In Arkham Asylum (the game) Doctor Young: ''Every doctor that has ever interviewed you claims a different type of psychosis. Everything from multiple personality disorders to, well...The list is endless'' The Joker: ''I do my best''

[@tonylu2471]

Doctors: What disease do you have? The Joker: All of them.

[@shayanmoosavi9139]

@@tonylu2471 correction : Doctors : What decease do you have? Joker : Yes.

[@tonylu2471]

@@shayanmoosavi9139 Doctors: diseases? Joker: yes.

[@Donkyelburro]

The scary part pf the joker is that he simulates every other disease. Hes actually quite lucid and sane. Thats why hes always toe to toe with a genius like batman. He cant be diagnosed because he doesnt have anyyhing

[@henkman00]

@@Donkyelburro having a mental disorder doesn't mean you can't function. you can even be a genius and still have a mental disorder. this is a common mistake that I've seen a few times when discussing the Joker. ''he's evil, not insane'' or ''he's faking it, a real insane person wouldn't be able to think, act or speak'' this isn't true. Batman himself has called Joker insane, and the best example of Joker being insane is checking out stories where he's temporarily turned sane. like in legend Of The Dark Knight #145 in it, Joker is killed and placed inside the Lazarus Pit. a side effect of the pit is that it causes temporary insanity. but it has the opposite effect on Joker, he turns sane. he is shocked about being killed and is helpful when Batman asks him where Ra's Al Ghul is. then he says: ''I've been thinking...remembering...all I've done, all the people I've hurt. the dead...the dead...sanity is such a burden'' what makes Joker scary is that he isn't faking insanity. no he's scary because we all could be him. we all could fall into the abyss. lose our humanity, lose empathy. lose ourselves. and that it would only take one bad day. But then there's hope in the form of Batman, one bad day turned him into a hero. that it was Joker who allowed himself to fall into the abyss when most people don't.

[@chisasa9509]

He's immune to mosquitoes. When they land on his skin they begin suffocating and if they bite him, they go into shock and slowly die.

[@monkeydluffy-fu3vj]

Nice

[@whiterungamer]

Man I want to be joker now

[@NeonDream]

The scientific term is "fellintoagoddamnvatofchemicals-itis"

[@NeonDream]

@Nicolas Castillo my dude😂😂

[@inglebear84]

Indeed. The chemicals could have rapidly mutated the disease that was already beginning to take hold of him...🤔

[@aryamsmith8952]

Na man dranktomuchgamergirlpee-itis worse

[@12434567891]

@@inglebear84 this is plausible, and something that should be considered when looking into this scenario with Joker. Many chemicals can create psychotic behaviorism, furthering his already chemically imbalanced brain.

[@alisoncircus]

That would be an inflammation of a "fellintoagoddamvatofchemicals". Like appendicitis is an inflammation of the appendix and bursitis is an inflammation of the bursa. "Itis" means "inflammation of". Like "ectomy" means "removal of". So you're saying the vat he fell into became inflamed. Maybe - but is that relevant? And - newsflash - proteins are chemicals. So fellintoagoddamvatofprions (without the vat subsequently becoming inflamed) makes more sense.

[@guessmyname1104]

"Excuse me, ma'am..." Kyle turns around: "It's SIR!" 😨

[@starshot2661]

Ha, that's funny. I wonder if anyone else will get the reference?

[@maverick885]

@@starshot2661 i got it

[@FnRenner]

If you've seen him monkey his way up a wall you'll know it's notKyle, it's Sci-Thor.

[@PhantomSavage]

I think Joker himself doesn't have a prion disease, or rather didn't before Arkham City (where he may have been experimenting with a designer version of a disease and inadvertently infected himself which lead to his condition in that game), but the people infected by "Mad Clown" disease obviously are, but a very, VERY specific prion disease focused to make very specific personality changes and traits. Uncontrollable laughter is certainly a real-world symptom which we can compare, but the "Mad Clown" disease seems to do minimal damage to areas in the brain associated with motor functions and memory loss, but very much makes its subjects homicidal, violent, yet intensely happy. My theory is its a prion infection that has prions designed to specifically target the ventrolateral part of the ventromedial hypothalamus, which is centrally located in the brain underneath the hypothalamus, as well as areas of the frontal lobe associated with emotional response and humor. The hypothalamus, or more specifically the ventromedial hypothalamus in recent studies, is the area in the brain we currently most associate with aggressive and violent behavior. If the "Joker" prion infection continually stimulates the ventromedial hypothalamus while also stimulating our frontal lobe, psychologically someone infected with the disease would perversely associate a positive emotional response or even outright laughter with our most violent and aggressive behaviors... now if that doesn't sound like The Joker I don't know what does.

[@henrycarson3023]

wasn't the reason behind him having a disease in "City" because he consumed the TITAN formula in "Asylum"

[@jtfbreedlove]

In-game Jokers disease *seems* to be a bad interaction between TITAN and the wierdness already going on in his bloodstream.

[@TotalDec]

So... Nanites.

[@terrsus7676]

​@@TotalDec nanomachines, son!

[@Vivek-cw3zu]

Nice❤

[@RJWorth]

Thor is breaking the 4th wall. He's talking about a character in another universe.

[@myst1c164]

Drippy_R this is like the 5th wall

[@CaitiffFTW]

Hypertime. JLA/Avengers is a thing. Thor is well aware of the existence of Joker.

[@MA5Kprod]

you're confused, this is Aquaman, not Thor.

[@Volroomste_melk]

Noticed it to

[@alexandersmith7061]

Lol

[@Godzillawolf1]

'Memory loss'... I would say that it's possible he actually DOES have that. Remember: Joker, by his own admission in the Killing Joke says he doesn't even remember his past properly, and remembers it numerous different ways depending on the day. And Killing Joke IS canonical to the Arkham Games, so it is possible. In fact, doing some minor research of my own I found Wernicke-Korsakoff's syndrome and other conditions often cause what is called spontaneous confabulation: that is creating incorrect memories that the patient holds true, and may act on, arising spontaneously without any provocation, in an attempt to fill in lost or damaged memories. Which is more or less exactly what Joker's 'multiple choice past' suggests he does. So it is possible that rather than experiencing traditional memory loss, Joker's form of prion disorder specifically causes spontaneous confabulation as its form of effecting the victim's memory.

[@joshuawilliams8921]

Godzillawolf1 i was actually going to bring up that fact till i saw you did in the comments lol, Loved that graphic novel

[@chezwizard]

The deadliness could also fit, hence why there are multiple jokers -- one dies, and then a new infected person gets scrambled enough to believe THEY are the joker.

[@rianas217]

This boi has a great pony disguise, you look like a peaseant just like me

[@bradmolyneaux5883]

You are, a supernerd! Bwwwaaooowww!

[@thomasparkin259]

@@wadewilson889 Only if it damaged portions of the brai associated with those qualities. Perhaps the protein buildup of this Joker has some sort of effect or quality beneficial to such thinking or it somehow encourages the brain to try adapting to the damage that improves such thinking.

[@Zoloft77]

Memory loss? In the Killing joke, doesn't Joker explain how he remembers his past.... as a multiple choice question?

[@maxgrzeda5065]

I was just about to comment that as well!

[@deanjelbertaustria6174]

@J&N Gaming and More! So that's the reason why the story joker tells about how he got his smile keeps on changing!

[@leonarddement4058]

Joker , funny as it is, is remembering a whole memory, but as separate. One memory was his rendering the red hood part. The other was his working for the mob because they got him to rob for him by killing his wife. The other was batman at the acid tank. To him he dropped him when in reality he was trying to save him. It's all the same memory. Just fractured

[@thebestthinginthecurrentsi4727]

well the joker has none of the diseases mentioned in the video the joker has some sort of mental and physical disease that's similar to CJD or kuru

[@Aemick]

@@thebestthinginthecurrentsi4727 And we don't know what it is so how would you know that it isn't?

[@mattschroeder3432]

bad memory loss could also explain why his personality keeps changing

[@thedarkapex5327]

He doesn't have bad memory lol

[@BassmanProducciones]

Maybe the Joker had CJD before falling into those nasty chemicals which they miraculously cured, but his brain was permanently damaged.

[@snowgrave2475]

Or could be that the chemicals killed the CJD, leading to further damage. Not essemtially a 'cure' but not as bad as it could have been?

[@meganofsherwood3665]

It's a cool idea, but in order to destroy the prions, you would have to get the chemicals into the brain tissue, at which he would be dead

[@snowgrave2475]

@@meganofsherwood3665 fair point. But from everything the joker has survived at this point. Maybe the chemicals mutated his brain to resist the prion, causing it to function despite all the damage so far?

[@Hubert_Cumberdale_]

Can't believe he didn't mention that cjd is more commonely known as "mad cow".

[@thunderrobots1980s]

@@meganofsherwood3665 all he would need is an open wound for the chemicals to get in to from there it gets to his blood stream an flows to the brain ,plus swallowing it would also help

[@gregorygreenwood-nimmo4954]

The pathology of the Joker as explained by Science Thor - this is pretty much Nerdvanah, and I love it.

[@danieldoesgaming5899]

" or by being jerad leto" this is just the second video of yours im watching, and i love it

[@Chiwi2004]

I almost spit out my drink at that joke. Disappointed there aren't more comments about it

[@urekmazino2086]

It would be really damn scary if he had no diseases and perfectly okay. Like imagine a sane person who can act like that. That's scary.

[@jamesdrennan7964]

i do...

[@kda9x]

@@jamesdrennan7964 what

[@SmurfYeahBizNitches]

"Thanks so much for watching Gary" My name is Gary. I am legitimately confused.

[@DAEDAEANT]

I was honestly searching for a comment like this

[@Armygirlsdad]

You must've missed a previous episode where he told us to watch you. He wanted to make sure you stayed safe. You're welcome.

[@mysteryman1036]

Ali Desch I love that show! Shame they had to cancel it though

[@KyrosX27]

Leave it to Kyle to put the _fun_ in Funerary Cannibalism! Love the show btw!

[@thassalantekreskel5742]

Now that's a joke worthy of Mark Hammil's Joker voice.

[@numberjackfiutro7412]

Yep

[@mawsafgjp4619]

The Joker is Hypersane. The reason we see him as insane is because we are not capable of understanding the way his brain works. To him we are the ones that are insane, this could also explain how he knows he is in a comic universe. Also it appears that his hypersanity is connected to Batman, as when Batman disappears the Joker reverts back to a normal person, holds a job, and even has a family.

[@ShadowWingTronix]

I don't remember him knowing he's in a comic universe. That's Deadpool. And Joker is still just as nuts when Batman isn't around. He has the same personality in general, which is where his schemes come from. It's just when the Bat is there the "game" continues so he dials it up.

[@faded1to3black]

@@ShadowWingTronix look up the Imaginary Axis on KZbin. That guy did a video on this exact topic months ago, and demonstrated many instances which show he may in fact be aware of his status as a comic book villain.

[@DAEDAEANT]

@@ShadowWingTronix I was gonna suggest the Imaginary Axis video but that already happened so ummm, here kzbin.info/www/bejne/gn-xqYZ8oMyqh7c

[@joshuaf7296]

@@ShadowWingTronix Watch the imaginary axis joker video bro. Explains this comment

[@brokenwave6125]

@@ShadowWingTronix "That's Deadpool". Lol yeah...you don't read comics obviously. Deadpool isn't the only character in comics with meta-awareness.

[@lennysmileyface]

"Yeah, eating brains ain't good y'all can stop that mate."

[@512TheWolf512]

all things considered, a vat full of prions can INDEED be called a vat of chemicals! so nothing technically wrong with that origin story

[@royepic3504]

Eugene InLaw it’s at 69 likes so I’m gonna leave it there

[@CieJe.Alexander]

Can Prions continue to exist in a vat? Or do they require a host to survive?

[@CieJe.Alexander]

@@wilhelmseleorningcniht9410 Thank you it does help. But, would there be a legit reason why anyone would have a vat of prions just sitting around? I understand that it is almost always stated as being illegal toxic waste, but it seems as if prions would be to valuable to leave in an open vat that way?

[@CieJe.Alexander]

@@wilhelmseleorningcniht9410 Sounds good! I'd read/watch it!

[@TheAce736]

If it the toxic waste can selectively destroy the melanin in the skin without melting it then it could probably do more than enough to some nerve cell to cause it to misfold

[@someboddyy2964]

Who else already knew prions from plague inc ?

[@Boomrainbownuke9608]

"raises hand"

[@Ghostscar]

Iceland Knows well.

[@chrispeefeart4655]

I still learned a lot more from this though

[@edtexas5064]

TV show Regenesis for me

[@UnlimitedFlyers]

Ah, Plague Inc --- I've killed the world so many times now, I've learned to be genuinely scared of the real epidemic outbreaks when they occur. Because we all know how it starts...

[@AGraf-hy9tt]

Joker does have memory issues. He doesn't know his actual backstory

[@khristoferdickover8983]

But what if the Joker IS experiencing memory loss? That would be a good explanation as to why his origin story is inconsistent between different versions of himself. The memory loss affected his long term memories more so than the newer ones.

[@TheBetterVersion]

Two things: 1) A few days ago I saw Roomie's video about weirdest diseases, and this won first place (Cannibalism that leads to uncontrollable laughter is weird) 2) The best explanation for the joker that I've read is that he knows he is in a comic book, and that's where lines like "I cannot exist without you" were said. He laughs because he understands that nothing is real and his actions have no consequences, so he might actually have Truman syndrome

[@alexandersmith7061]

I like to think that he has dissociative personality disorder that switches between psychopathy and sociopathy. He is very methodical and manipulative, common traits of a psychopath, but he acts like a sociopath with his sometimes random acts of violence. Or, if it’s Jared Leto’s Joker, it’s probably wannabegangster-idis

[@Lucien86]

Maybe the name should be Trump Disease..

[@gandalftheantlion]

None, even Harley Quinn noted that joker is faking insanity and perfectly knows what he is doing.

[@gandalftheantlion]

cak01vej yes, but by legal standards he is not protected by the insanity clause if he is a psychopath.

[@joshuagranger2529]

@cak01vej well he knows it's wrong because he pretty much announces when ever he kills someone he's just doesn't give a fuck

[@En.GergerRacc]

If he perfectly knows what he's doing and still wants to do it, that is still indicative of mental illness. Sane people don't tend to fake insanity or do murder.

[@gandalftheantlion]

Gavin Smith the imaginary axis did a really good video on joker as being super sane, even though Kyle chooses to ignore super sanity there is no doubt of its possibility. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gn-xqYZ8oMyqh7c also a psychopath is not classified as insanity, people tried using that in court but it doesn’t hold water.

[@BrutusTheOwl]

@@En.GergerRacc Those traits aren't necessarily indicative of mental illness. Also, often times especially in recent times, the mass shooters and such have no prior history of mental illness or are classified as insane. And really, ONLY sane people can fake insanity, hence the faking part. Also murder has always been more often than not a totally sane and rational endeavor.

[@daveyryuzaki6533]

Psychologist: what caused this? Joker 2019: Society...

[@St_Mindless]

A society THAT ABANDONS HIM AND TREATS HIM LIKE TRASH! I'll tell you what you get. YOU GET WHAT YOU FUCKING DESERVE!

[@ethanslifka3904]

Joker: The Best Villain to Ever Live

[@leonarddement4058]

Funny you say that. Originally joker was written as an undead zombie. He was stabbed and instead of blood he only oozed out white. He technically isn't alive. Hence why he survives everything he has happen to him

[@mrcaesar3123]

Leonard Dement I did not know that I just thought he was a crazy guy that was smart

[@vader988]

But there's darth vader

[@ethanslifka3904]

@@vader988 You got me there

[@vader988]

Hey never count out darth vader

[@loganberry2263]

Based on the many origins of the joker, such as the One Bad Day origin where joker falls into toxic chemicals while he was helping a gang; what is the most likely origin/ method of contraction for Jokers mental illness. Personally based on the origin where he fall into toxic chemicals, I believe that the chemicals caused cellular damage, which had the additional side effect of warping some of the proteins in his body.

[@thomasackers7423]

Logan Berry If the Joker was a secret Hanible Lecter then he may already have the preons in his brain. If he ingested the chemicals with human brain still in his stomach it could change the makeup of those preons. Also the memory loss with this disease could be why his story about his scars constantly change.

[@KyleKartan87]

Since TSE's can lead to altered memories and hallucinations it would be possible that the fall is just something the Joker thinks what happend. He could have got the nTSE simple form eating meat from a cow infected with 'mad cow desease'.

[@mariawhite7337]

Well for Ledger Joker, let me think. Kay so there was this case of a lady once killing, cooking up, and maybe eating a guy for his own children. So maybe, since his father plays a roll, well not really, but someone in the Jokers life made him eat human meat. This meat was infected with prions, so as time went on, his brain altered. What if he actually cut his mouth himself? It would explain the lack of healed/nicer scars tissue there, where it looks like someone didn't take care of the wounds. For ledger joker it might be that the first person he killed WAS his girlfriend. As in he needs to smile more, and all that part of the telling. It makes sense that the Jokers mind is fragmented if it is just your average violent psychosis. But even with that there could be breakthroughs, the original personality pushing through as it were. So we can maybe assume that Ledger jokes actually has brain damage of some form. BUT THAT is just for Ledger Joker, in the comics he's... well just sometimes just plain crazy. There is a comic where the Martian man Hunter actually is able to break through the psychosis of Joker and make him 'normal' but that isn't always the case. The usual thing is that the Joker fell into the chemicals, and it changed him. Because chemicals just DO that apparently. So we can safely assume that the chemicals which obviously got into his blood stream, could have altered/damaged enough proteins to cause a type of prion disease. That as is said is closest to the one mentioned, it makes sense that they'd call it a mutated verison of it since prion diseases aren't entirely the most well studied area of things. So they can take a set of symptoms and everything that is most similar and put it there as a base.

[@thomasackers7423]

Dracone1024 In the comic Superman: Emperor Joker, The Joker ate the entire population of china. As this was reversed so that it disnt happen it still shows the Joker is capable of this. I know this is a “alternate reality” version but its still the Joker.

[@charlesgrove6905]

@@mariawhite7337 Doesn't have to be human.

[@richardalvares5834]

Does that mean joker is not in control of his actions? I thought joker was a psychotic mastermind genius Now he's just ill

[@doomyboi]

He can be both. You make the most of what you got, after all.

[@Fernandanatac]

He can have this disease AND be a psychopath (that would technically be called Anti-social Personality Disorder) + be simply intelligent by his own merits. He HAS to have more than this disease, because not everybody that has it is a genocidal mastermind criminal like Joker. The disease would only explain the psychotic behavior and uncontrollable laughter.

[@MagicMorton]

He was never really a true genius tbh and he is in control of his actions fully. Just they aren't good or made to succeed most of the time

[@Spud1210]

Watch the imaginary axis’s video on the joker’s sanity. He is actually on a fictional level of sanity called SUPER sanity which is where he realises his entire reality is a comic book and that’s what he does what he does. He torments batman because he knows he’s never going to kill h8m since the comics won’t let him kill the main hero, which is why in a comic where the joker truly believes he has killed the batman he actually becomes sane and convinces himself he actually was insane all those years, until batman comes back, which the joker knows would be impossible if it were in the real world, and becomes a criminal again. He also feels the pressure of the audience, knowing that he needs to constantly one up batman and himself to remain Batman’s worst and most popular villain. He kills innocent people because he is trying to ex0lain to batman that they are in a comic, and the people he kills usually don’t even have names, faces or families, which is why he finds it funny that batman cares so much about people that, to the joker, might aswell not exist. In my opinion, the only time we see a joker that is ACTUALLY INSANE is in the batman who laughs’s universe in the dark knights storyline. Where joker finds out the chemical vat he fell into is slowly killing him, so h goes all out in destroying and killing everyone in Gotham to the point where batman kills him. In this story the joker no longer cares about entertaining his audience or explaining to batman that their reality is fake, all he knows is that HIS life as he knows it is ending, so he isn’t going to leave anyone alive, which is what our joker usually does with main characters so the audience is left wondering if he will ACTUALLY kill them. The joker in the dark multiverse isn’t trying to keep the readers attention because he doesn’t care about them anymore, he just wants to fuck with batman as much as possible before he dies so he makes sure batman is the ONLY person he ha to worry about by killing EVERYONE else he comes across. I think this joker is truly insane because when he finds out he is dying his mind shifts down from super sanity, to insanity, because he no longer acknowledges the fact he is in a comic book and just does what pleases HIM most, not the audience, now he is treating the citizens of Gotham as ACTUAL PEOPLE because he thinks killing the most PEOPLE will get to batman the most, whereas our joker wouldn’t bother killing random citizens because he knows they aren’t real and will only kill those he or batman are actually 8n contact with

[@zakazany1945]

@@Spud1210 Mind = blown

[@LoganBeck11]

Great episode, love the show! Honestly the best part was learning that prion is a portmanteau

[@maninthebox420m]

I like the idea of him being super sane. He's always 2 steps ahead of Batman, he knows right from wrong he just chooses wrong because he gets a kick out of it.

[@corey8704]

Laughter is the best medicine Kuru: Hold my prion.

[@joshuakloc8558]

More directed at the game calling it Jokeritis itis is a medical suffix meaning inflammation based on the description you gave on CJD I think it would be more accurate to call it Jokerlysis as the Lysis suffix means deterioration or destruction. Love the show man!

[@AAllen-br8it]

I for one prefer "Mad Clown Disease"

[@snazytoons4142]

Rick J-420 No no, it should be called "Clown Guy Who Attacks a Man in a Bat Costume Disease"

[@superiorredditor8173]

"That is no laughing matter" I see what you did there.

[@SFMPlayz]

Can't get it by falling into chemicals or being Jared Leto 😂😂 I'm dead

[@DeadUnicornClub]

You've now made me afraid of a new thing. I'm sending you my therapy bill.

[@brianwhorton5619]

Hey KYLE, huge fan of the show. What do you think is actually in Bane's V.E.N.O.M. serum to make him the powerhouse we know him as?

[@matthewrinaldo8709]

Steroids lots and lots of steroids with some amphetamine and psilocybin thrown in just for fun

[@chezwizard]

That's chlorophyll.

[@AAllen-br8it]

Sci fi chemicals

[@brianwhorton5619]

Yeah but I want Kyle to explain it and make it more fun. Plus you know you want to see a neon dry erase Bane

[@AAllen-br8it]

@@brianwhorton5619 true

[@fanasful]

The KZbinr "The Imaginary Axis" made a video about this topic that is quite a bit more faithful to the comics. You can see it here: watch?v=LNNxSFkgwQU TL;DW: According to the comics Joker has so called "Super Sanity", which basically means he is so sane, that he knows he lives in a comic. He does what he does because it keeps the comics alive (and therefore him) and all the people he killed are just drawings, therefore he never actually harmed anybody.

[@joshuabruun3813]

Fuckin genius

[@corbanoT.V.]

That's actually pretty cool.

[@ThugOG30VIPs3rd-T]

That actually sounds sooo likely. Its like he breakin the 1st wall wit out REALLY SHOWING IT IS WOW. def will watch

[@alejandroperez-lu3ts]

Wow! As a biochemist I loved your prion explication, so fluid and simple. You're amazing

[@bboyfan22]

Idea for a future BS What would John Carter really be able to do on Mars?

[@bigdaddymike5225]

IniTial91 that’s a good idea. Thanks for that inspiration. Hope they do a video on that.

[@matthewthompson9902]

Like the supernatural strength and leaping ability.

[@bboyfan22]

@@MostlyPennyCat good point

[@redacted144]

Isn’t lower gravity mean less dense atmosphere? Will he just simply suffocate?

[@RedwoodTheElf]

@@MatthewBaron I think he meant "What would John Carter be able to do on a mars AS DESCRIBED in the novels. In the novels, Mars has massive machines that replenish their atmosphere so it is approximately Earth normal pressure for, say, Denver.

[@deke1138]

Kyle, Great video as always. One question I have in regards to your conclusion is: if Joker is truly suffering from either CJD or Kuru why haven't medical professionals with in the Batman "Arkham Knight" universe never been able to clearly diagnose the Joker? Your video clearly shows that these diseases have clear symptoms, both on the surface and internally, and the Joker has been incarcerated and institutionalized countless times and has most likely undergone medical examination during each of these incidents. According to Batman: Arkham Asylum audio logs "every doctor that has ever interviewed [the Joker] claims a different type of psychosis. Everything from multiple personality disorder to well... The list is endless". Arkham boasts having a state of the are medical facility, provided by funding from the Wayne foundation, if this is true it could be highly unlikely that either CJD or Kuru would go unnoticed, even though they are rare conditions. I think you're correct that the disease spreading in Arkham Knight could be a form of CJD or Kuru, but that could have been engineered at one point by the Joker who is noted as being a genius a chemical engineering, i.e. Joker Gas. I am no expert, but I think the Joker does not suffer any mental illness or disease and is entirely in control of his faculties and choices. The Joker portrays the symptoms of multiple different disorders and diseases because he chooses to as way to mask his identity, much like Batman and his cowl. The Joker has been called a psychopath because he portrays exactly how the media and society at large view psychopathy, but according to Dr. Jennifer Skeem, Professor of Psychology and Social Behavior at the University of California, Irvine: “Psychopathy tends to be used as a label for people we do not like, cannot understand, or construe as evil"(link to article below). I know this may seem unrelated from your point of the Joker suffering from a physical disease, but I use this point in conjunction with the different diagnoses from doctors within the Arkham universe and the medical facilities at Arkham to come to the conclusion; the Joker is entirely sane, just evil. I know my conclusion is more philosophical than scientific, but I lack the scientific knowledge of how else to define a person that in complete control of their faculties and choices and chooses to unleash countless horrors and death upon people. I thank you for taking the time to read this, and if I missed something or am completely wrong I hope you can correct me so we can all grow as a community. www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/psychopathy-a-misunderstood-personality-disorder.html

[@JediSentinal]

i think someone just became a super nerd. congrats in advance?

[@andrewtilton6913]

While I like your whole theory, I found one thing you missed; the vat of chemicals that the Joker fell into. In the animated movie "The Killing Joke" he never showed any signs of psychopathy until after the chemicals. This suggests that he may have gotten some disease from said chemicals. Wether or not that disease was CJD or not just adds to the mystery. I personally like that the Joker's history is a secret and I think giving a canon explanation for his condition is not the way to go. I do like to hear all kinds of theories. I like that we as a community can bounce ideas off eachother in an attempt to figure out deliberately withheld information that probably won't be explained. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

[@deke1138]

@@andrewtilton6913 I did actually consider your point with the killing joke, and the issue I have with its credibility is that story was originally told from the Joker's perspective. Joker is a known liar and has told multiple different stories on his "origins". This being the case I didn't count it as a credible source as know one credible actually saw who was under the red hood, and we as the audience can be lied to by the narrator i.e. the Joker. On a personal note: I also prefer his identity and origins to be a mystery as it makes him a complete dark reflection of Batman. The criminals of Gotham have no idea who or where Batman comes from, and thus see him as an unstoppable source of terror. With no clear origin the Joker becomes our Batman, an unknown source of terror. Much like Batman, the Joker's true strength lies in how the world perceives him. Give the Joker a history and an identity and he becomes just another criminal, but takes those away and he becomes chaos incarnate. I argue that the Joker, like Batman, is fully aware of how powerful perception is and has purposely gone to great lengths to erase his history in order to be just as formidable as Batman.

[@rwxstudio7173]

If you look at how Nicholson played the part of the Joker, it seemed more like a psychological break. In the scene where he sees himself in the mirror after the back alley plastic surgeon had "fixed" Napier up with limited tools at his disposal, Jack went insane at seeing how he looked. Just my opinion, but it always seems like he suffers severe mental trauma before he goes nutso and becomes the Joker.

[@gabepatton9851]

Excellent points, but I think you missed the loophole that the joker could have a disease, while also being clever enough to throw up different smoke screens of psychological symptoms at every person who studied him. On top of that it is also possible or likely that he's made some sort of modifications since then, maybe just to curb lethality or some such. In short, he could have been a victim of circumstance that has since become complicit to his madness.

[@nettowaku1252]

Kyle: "I was sipposed to be g..." My brain: "...ay."

[@Jason-tz7ir]

It's funny because he is

[@GarrettOtt-ls2ml]

Your contents so good and ur jus great at explaining and keeping things interesting. I'm extremely surprised you dont have more subs

[@ruyman90]

I see so this time instead teaching people of how to defeat superheroes, Kyle decided to go into the law and give a chance for the joker to have a plea for insanity by mental disease in court so he would be put into Arkam Asylum instead of a high security prison because he knows that because the lack of security is like a playground for villains so that they can conspire freely. I see what you are doing Kyle. PS: I already changed my identity and my location.

[@osmosisjones4912]

Hears question for evoltionary workings what if a prion is benofitial. But generics that passed down the gene

[@bandotaku]

This is why Joker is never put in prison.

[@bradmolyneaux5883]

Kyle: warning. I'm going to show you a medical picture totally not disturbing unless you have some sort of phobia. Me: I'm eating but medical scans aren't anything. Kyle: tribes ate the infected brains and bodies of their loved ones. Me: *gag* where's my warning on that one?!?!

[@becausescience]

didn't show it -- kH

[@thegrandmaguss84]

Didnt show it omegalul

[@bradmolyneaux5883]

@@becausescience oh of course. Because no ever has used the pink elephant example. And there is no such thing as books or audio books where they describe things to create imagery in people's minds. And listening to horrible stories on the news doesn't invoke emotional reactions in people. Totally not a thing you are right. ;) And by the way, someone said to man up. I reported you. You could say that sort of thing to my face but I doubt you would be man enough. You're a troll. Being desensitized to everything is not a positive attribute and in case you are thinking otherwise I made the original post to be a little tongue in cheek about my reaction. You made yours to be rude. Keep your garbage personality to yourself.

[@lojika1majik]

@@bradmolyneaux5883 after that long winded comment, you should also keep your own garbage private.

[@corbanoT.V.]

@@bradmolyneaux5883 jeez, dude, calm down.

[@dwightmartinez2133]

This and Imaginary Axis’ video on the Joker make my day

[@leoalcaraz6153]

Thank you for making the joker scarier than he already was

[@user-vk3eb6oo5g]

As you said, bats said that it is mutated so imajine this: A human, carying CJD fals in a tanker with a chemical, that acts as a mutagen to the amiloid placks in his barin, thus changing their effects (life expectancy, psychological deformations, even voice changes) and even changing the way that the illness transmits (instead of injection of brain tissue - by blood transfer, as in Batman Arkham City game, where the infection is spread by The Jokers blood) This makes me wonder if scarecrows toxin didn't cure batman in the last scene of Arkham Knight

[@Felipeh999]

4:18 Well... As far as I know, there's still no consensus about whether viruses are alive or not. Perhaps that's why Kyle used air quotes?

[@becausescience]

There's not even a consensus on what "alive" means! -- kH

[@astralascendance]

The joker is really just super aware of his being. He knows he is in a comic book. They cover this canonly in quite a few different comics

[@raymondgottschalk9147]

Kyle bruhyou really succeeded in making science fun and easily digested to those that don’t find science fun themselves good job dude

[@DanielRieger]

Finally figured out the name of the Because Science music, Trash Disco 2 by Alexis Smith & Joe Henson, for those interested

[@BlestNekun]

Everyone knows The Joker suffers from SUPER SANITY. He sees the code in the matrix. The Joker is the One.😋 😎🍻😎

[@becausescience]

We live in a society -- kH

[@BlestNekun]

@@becausescience A society only "one bad day" away from falling into utter chaos! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!🤪 😎🍻😎

[@Beegrene]

One explanation of "super sanity" that I've seen and really liked is that Joker, on some potentially-subconscious level, knows that he's fictional. He knows that he's just a character in a comic book. In that case, his horrifying antics are a form of self-preservation. We all know that comic book characters tend not to stay dead for long. The only reason a comic book character would die and stay dead is if the readers weren't interested in reading stories about them any more. I posit that Joker does what he does specifically so that he remains interesting to comic book audiences and thus ensures his own continued existence.

[@thralldumehammer]

It only takes one system to fail. Sheeple will flip out

[@FrozEnbyWolf150]

Yes, the Joker is very much like Deadpool, and has been written similarly. Although the Joker doesn't do this as often, he's been shown breaking the 4th wall, turning the page of his own comic, and remembering multiverse and Marvel crossovers that nobody else does. In fact, in the original Pre-Crisis DC multiverse, Earth Prime was supposedly the real earth, where DC is a publisher and superheroes are fictional. So there's a basis for the Joker knowing he's a character in a comic book.

[@FatNinjaWalrus]

so, i paused this video at 5:11 to look up CJD because i remembered having read about it after batman initially mentions it in arkham knight. i spent the next hour reading about kuru, the Fore people, and most interestingly, their culture. then i remembered i was watching this video, came back, clicked play, and proceeded to have you go down the exact path of topics i had just wiki-wandered through myself lol

[@zakosist]

7:30 I always had a habit of laughing at random time points (from actually thinking of something funny) I wonder how many people must have thought I have kuru...

[@YngolSonofYsgramor]

I dont care what anyone says Prions frighten me much more than a black hole ever could

[@MrAsh-hr9mm]

Much more likely as well.

[@eanna3781]

What about the Elephant's Foot?

[@skylx0812]

I thought that was _"prisons"_ and my thoughts went places...

[@eanna3781]

@@skylx0812 don't drop the soap

[@AlexandreMS71]

Those sucker scare the hell out of me since I've read about them some 30 years ago.

[@smellybruhwithattitude7287]

Noodle king has a great idea you should find out what is in scarecrows gas

[@CubingB]

I actually knew about kuru and it’s fun to see something I actually know in kyles vid😂

[@addictedtoJB]

This was probably the scariest episode I've seen...and I've been a sub for 3+ years now. Just thinking about it gives me chills. Nice vid as always though.

[@JeremyWS]

Batman has always been my favorite comic book character. I really liked this one.

[@pandapanda4124]

Even his BDSM?

[@gj9157]

For you..

[@fearz-4367]

Who would've guessed lol.

[@MrKeenanrutledge]

Mah man!! I'm working up to super nerd status....these things take time. But I would love to say that everything you do is awesome brotha!! Keep on keepin on!!

[@becausescience]

Very kind, thank you Keenan! -- kH

[@MrKeenanrutledge]

@@becausescience Made my day lol Thanks for taking the time to read and reply. Thats beyond awesome mah man haha

[@stormcorrosion176]

Great hair bro! Keep up the videos, appreciate the info

[@lukasjrgensen4758]

“that’s not catchy” 😂 this is one of my favorite hubs of learning for sure👏🏽

[@theskeletalrebel3908]

Nice job on the episode Kyle. Glad to see you didn’t go the way of the Harlequin, instead sticking to your dark background.

[@theskeletalrebel3908]

@Revolver Ocelot, just some wordplay. Harley Quinn went crazy trying to diagnose the Joker. Batman is the dark knight and Kyle lives in the darkness of the void.

[@anoninunen]

Five seconds before watching, I was like "He ate brains, right?" Is this the power of ultra-instinct?

[@ribosomerocker]

Teach me your ways

[@MegaManXPoweredUp]

Is this "Because Science" or _beyond science?_

[@xal3xmedia]

I bet you weren't even using 1% of your power as well

[@user-ms6sy2yd7f]

Scott Gleason This is... requiem

[@user-nu8in3ey8c]

The video games and newer movies are a departure from the classic Joker. The newer artists and writers likely are not trying to stay close to the original vision of the joker. The original Joker(and the earlier films and animations) was written with attention to detail. The Joker was simply a cunning, mobster(See Jack Napier), sociopath (see anti-social personality disorder) who fell into a vat of toxic chemicals/waste and had his skin bleached, and some psychiatric disturbances from said event. The nerve damage causes the bleached skin, a perpetual slasher smile, and the laughter and additional disturbances could be related to trauma from the injury and disfigurement. His violent behavior is explained by his prior occupation and antisocial personality disorder. As a sociopath Jack Napier could manipulate, he could appear to be friendly, he could play the victim, he could intimidate. With the nerve damage and skin bleaching of his face, he really cant appear warm and charismatic. His criminal acts make it hard to play the victim card. That only really leaves the Joker persona. He can intimidate, and disturb his potential victims with his permanent slasher smile and bursts of laughter. High intelligence, fine motor skills, and above average coordination should rule out prions and other diseases that cause catastrophic damage to the brain.

[@xlaythe]

I think (in addition) he's meant to have classic sociopathy.

[@Lycandros]

I did a presentation about this in high school 19 years ago or so, and aside from the Joker correlation was very similar. Find it sad that not much has changed in the understanding/ healing. Happy to learn that the Kuru outbreak has greatly improved however.

[@barrybend7189]

How safe are Gundam's fusion reactors and SEED's fission reactors?

[@MechaZen]

Add 00 gundam's gn drives which implies a perpetual motion machine. Cmon kyle you know you wanna do an episode based on a well known mecha series

[@barrybend7189]

@@MechaZen the GN drive is semi perpetual. The TD blanket acts as an alternator to both refine the particles but also act as a power capacitor to keep the engine going. Hence why the GN tau drives have limited operation times( like a car with a non functioning alternator and runs on the battery.

[@barbatosrex1087]

Or the better question: Can Jesus Yamato survive being at the epicenter of a nuclear explosion?

[@MechaZen]

@@barbatosrex1087 wut?! That's common sense ofc he'll survive

[@daldre8710]

Dude Joker is one of my fav villains 😮 great video.

[@JoshuaC34]

I had to do a project on CJD a few years ago, it is a very complex and interesting disease.

[@ticonofruger573]

I think he has both CJD and Kuru. Given that he has symptoms of both. Could it be possible that the mix of both diseases would alter each other to create an entirely new disease?

[@ButcherofRagol]

The problem is, where would he contract Kuru? Has the Joker been to Papua New Guinea?

[@tylerpowell405]

One thing is that one has to wonder about if the prions meet together. If the prions do meet, what is there to say that one misfolded protein could not turn the other? Similar in a way that some bacteria and viruses would fight against each other for dominance, something similar could happen. It would be interesting to see if anything like that has been tested before.

[@ticonofruger573]

@@ButcherofRagol The vat of chemicals he fell in I guess.

[@ticonofruger573]

@@tylerpowell405 Agreed.

[@meganofsherwood3665]

Without delving into my cell bio textbook, it depends on which protein is the culprit. As I recall, CDJ is a very specific protein that gets misfolded, and proceeds to turn the normal versions of that protein into the corrupted form. Kuru *may* be a different protein, and differebt misfolding of the same protein, or a misfolding of a variant of the protein unique-ish to the people of Papua New Guinea (again, this is without checking my textbook)

[@user-vp9op4cc6g]

well, it might sound crazy but the joker is not psychiatric disordered but a genius. it just might be hard to process but let's look at what mental illness is. it’s a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. the joker hoewer is not mentally ill but looks at the world from another perspective (and sort of logical perspective). one of the beautiful things about the joker is his similarities to batman. they both were born out of one tragedy a tragedy that left them mining less. and as batman says himself- when life is meaningless you need to give them mining yourself. for batman it was to embrace and work for better conventional morality. for the joker hoewer it was to leave conventional morality behind. the joker sees good and evil as one of the same. no villain sees himself as evil. even thanos saw himself as the hero, but the joker kills the line between good and evil. were most villains do things to gain power he does it to prove a point. that morality is fragile. he makes people do horrible things to teach as that there is no good or evil and that they are one of the same. and also to teach as that humans with our morality are corrupt. he is not evil as well in the comics he refuses to join red skull in the marvel dc crossover, and he killed Lex Luthor in infinite crisis. what makes the joker dangerous is not that he is mentally ill, the joker is ok mentally, what makes him dangerous is that he understood how fragile is morality and he made it his life purpose to prove himself correct. however he did not abandon conventional morality all together but replace it with humor. hope my comment is nerdy enough to convince you he is not evil and for kyle to get me in on his villain plans. your poster is on his way to my roof i will send u a photo later on Shlomi Vinar

[@abhijitdas8588]

Could not agree more. Someone with CJD would have progressively degenerating cognitive abilities. As He said, "I am not a monster, I am just ahead of the curve."

[@lirondadon6727]

U are so right and funny

[@user-ol2xh2sr7j]

I'm agree with you.

[@octohhytyuf6ur952]

The right stuff are the long one. (That what she said)

[@user-sr1yu1zp1o]

אחלה שלומי

[@xerodelacroix5552]

He doesn't actually have a mental illness. It's been confirmed numerous times that he's aware he's living in a fictional world, and thus acts as to what seems insane in that insane fictional world.

[@Jenuin]

Interesting video. Loved it.

[@richardalvares5834]

By the way Kyle love your show and thanks for answering my Aquaman question.. it means a lot to me.. thankyou

[@gg-dk8ec]

3 dislikers till now are three versions of Joker in DC. 😂

[@CrimsontC720]

My fiance's mom had CJD. It was really rough for her and her family to see her mom deteriorate that way.

[@Ash-ve3co]

Thanks for the warning! 3:06

[@LightsOnTrees]

Batman also then proves the positive link between increased physical exercise and cognitive function.

[@jammanapalliramaiah2274]

Ah, what

[@gabepatton9851]

Well, provides evidence for it anyways

[@professionalmemeenthusiast2117]

Not really surprising. If the blood is flowing better through the body then more oxygen gets to the brain.

[@skylx0812]

Dunno but the last one (Leto) looked like they dug up David Bowie's corpse and put Halloween makeup on it.

[@leonmorte7241]

@@ericsacks5731 i agree Leto wasn't a good Joker, but your grammer is terrible.

[@ericsacks5731]

@@leonmorte7241 this is how people on the Northside of Milwaukee Wisconsin, USA speak, it's the regional dialect

[@GhostRider-uk3xv]

I thinking about an traumatic, anti-social and narcisstic personality.

[@Alovon]

Old one, but wanted to comment here. But I do say impressive work on Bruce for making a cure for Prions. Honestly in a realistic sense, my best idea would be using CRISPR to make a harmless virus that would spread through the body and modify the cells to allow them to have a proper interaction with the misfolded proteins, with the term being them recycling them for energy or something. Therefore, someone with that CRISPR virus/edit would progressively become immune to the effects of whatever Prion(s) the Virus was programmed to make the edit to target. Now, no real way to undo the damage for a active sufferer, but as a vaccine, pretty great.

[@watchmiker]

Hey Kyle! I'm back! What if the Joker has Huntingtons disease? A great many of the symptoms involve compulsive behavior, lack of restraint, hallucinations, violent outbursts, and so on. Instead of an infectious disease, this disease is hereditary and degenerative. This would possibly play to a progression of jokers schemes from simple crimes to grand, crazy plans to destroy the city. It could also play into jokers that appear in different times. The joker is simply passing along huntingtons to his offspring. I don't know much about the DC universe. Has the joker tried transmitting the disease to other people? Seems like a joker thing to do. But the only chemical I've ever heard of him using is a mix of cyanide and laughing gas to kill people. If hes never tried to spread his disease, I would contest that it's more plausible that he has an inherited disease, and passes it down to keep his legacy going. Thanks! Mike

[@STRAKAZulu]

The Joker has tried "infecting" others before. For example: in Batman Beyond, one of the last Robins was tortured by him for a time, in an effort to make him another Joker. He even gave him a transfusion of his blood. It didn't take effect until Terry took over as Batman. Then, there's the second plot of Arkham Knight. He sent contaminated bags of blood to hospitals around Gotham, infecting four people.

[@DaveLennonCopeland]

I have Huntingtons disease in my family, it killed my mum (39 years old), my sister (40 years old) and my brother (42 years old)... I could go mad too... I nursed my brother at home (we lived in a shared house together) until he died, not good. It gradually kills off healthy nerve cells in the brain, leading to loss of language, thinking and reasoning abilities, memory, coordination, movement, and emotional problems, with occasional sparks of awareness... I am in my early 40s and would NOT wish this on anyone, even enemies (not that I have any)... When my brother died, the local news paper wanted to interview me because they thought it was CJD, I declined.

[@watchmiker]

@@DaveLennonCopeland I am so sorry to hear about your situation and I hope you didn't take any offense to my speculation. I did not wish to make light of the disease. I know it is a horrific way to live and die... i apologise if you took offense.

[@DaveLennonCopeland]

Watchmiker - No offence taken, all good... Just wanted to say that it defo would NOT make for a very good Joker, is all... And yeah, when Kyle mentioned CJD, it sparked a nerve (so to speak)... :)

[@joshuakusuma5953]

In the Batman Who Laughs miniseries, Joker did try infecting Batman with his "toxin". Symptoms were violent outbursts, spontaneous laughter, increase in aggressive behavior and bloodshot eyes for some reason.

[@SeantheBawse]

Kyle, I'm disappointed...you didn't use any clips from Plague Inc. Haha. Favorite episode in a while.

[@arrowed_sparrow1506]

To help visualize Prion/protein thing. The protein has a memory of a shape, like the shape memory alloys that are manufactured. The Prion then comes in contact with the protein and gives it a new "memory" to shape into. But just like the alloy, none of them are alive. :) This was a great video.

[@naeemsheira5091]

This just blew my mind 🤯

[@leocoelho4536]

joker video wears purple shirt well done.

[@becausescience]

of course -- kH

[@Subutai_Khan]

One correction. Viruses aren't in fact considered living anymore being smaller than the basic unit of life cells. They also don't behave entirely like living things.

[@joa1035]

So the virus discussion finally came to an end? Interesting.

[@walkinmn]

The debate is still going but i do think most of the scientific community agrees in non-living. But the main factor is definitely not the size, there are viruses as big as 400 nm and cells as small as 200 nm having said that in biology there's always exceptions to the rule. Personally i agree that viruses shouldn't be considered a living thing, since they don't have most of the necessary parts to function by itself that it can exist in its own classification doesn't mean that it has to be alive and this is more evident for prions.

[@ginnyjollykidd]

A professor of mine called them something like a "nucleus in search of a cell."

[@AmyraCarter]

TSE's are no joke. Some of them can be transmitted upon any contact, though I've never seen it firsthand.

[@facundoynsfran]

I've seen it, and I am scared af

[@arnoremane4595]

is that the plague inc soundtrack during the prion explanation?

[@shinkaiatsuya950]

The same one deadpool has Breakingfourthwall-itis.

[@biohazard724]

Nope, cancer. Lots of cancer. A buttload of cancer. Some of it actually in his butt.

[@shinkaiatsuya950]

​@@biohazard724 Its not all bad, I mean regeneration is pretty op.

[@jayvis123111]

I wonder if kyle considered if the joker is just super-sane and realizes that he is in fact is a form of media (a comic/movie/game ect...) it seems to me that from the comics that I've glanced at that this would also explain why the joker does what he does. I would also say that I think that the idea of the joker being actually sick is kinda not on one of the messages I think Batman tries to represent. Which is that a normal human, with sufficient background, can become something wonderful. Meanwhile the joker is shown to be the exact opposite. Circumstances that create a great evil. At least that's my interpretation.

[@uzzwalkumar253]

U might like it. www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DLNNxSFkgwQU&ved=2ahUKEwickqve--HjAhV1guYKHSWYCk8QwqsBMAB6BAgCEAU&usg=AOvVaw1giHK1OLk4ZoVMfWJn28Kv

[@SuperShanko]

jayvis123111 Doubtful, because Mr. Mxy fully understands the big picture and is just doing shit for lolz, while Joker once had that level of power yet just killed Batman hundreds of times for shits and giggles.

[@Samhain_III]

I think the path of super-sanity is the more probable since the joker has a slightly different illness than all of the victims of his [joker-gas, mad-clown-desease, ...]. For example he has no halluzinations, is not completely incapacitated and he survives for a long time. I think the comparison of the illness his victims contracts is probably a prion-disease, BUT that is only similar to what the joker himself is afflicted by. So I would argue that the joker weaponized a prion-disease, but he himself has a different disease.

[@kalebduff9589]

Dam right

[@AAllen-br8it]

I really do think that people misunderstand Grant Morrison's "Super Sane" concept a lot. Though it can be supported by meta contextual gags here and there in the comics, and it's a fun thought to entertain, I honestly don't think the whole 4th wall breaking ability holds up too well under scrutiny when you look at Joker's narrative throughout the Batman mythos. The Super Sanity is more like an abstract kind of Extra Sensory Perception to where Joker adapts his personality and focus towards whatever his mind compulsively draws him towards that given day. Morrison kind of spells out that it's like an extreme blend of Tourettes Syndrome and MPD rolled up in one. Essentially all it really means is that Joker is not exactly consciously sitting down and scheming all of these things like you or I would, it comes to him the way a tic comes to someone with tourettes. His ESP side hones in on his environment (as implied in A Serious House, the Joker takes in the constant barrage of perceptual input and goes with the flow seeing the world as his theatre of the absurd. I personally take this as his instincts responding with a sort of improv essentially.) So all of his complex schemes, him being such a precision instrument, inexplicably being able to pick up such a wide variety of skills so easily, seemingly limitless energy, unpredictability, dissasociative tendencies, it all just comes from this and it is what's constantly guiding him along like a neverending tic that adapts itself to his given situation (much like the function of a Joker card) It's a little hard to explain, Morrison is much better at it for sure(give his Batman run a chance it is phenomenal imo), but I honestly really like it and it holds up pretty much no matter what comic your reading that features the main Joker. Adds a sort of fun angle to look at him in as well.

[@thetruth45678]

I think Joker has Witzelsucht, a set of pure and rare neurological symptoms characterized by a tendency to make puns, or tell inappropriate jokes or pointless stories in socially inappropriate situations.

[@drewgoss-hager7400]

it’s crazy how i hate sitting in my science class, but when this guy explains it with batman i fall in love

[@somberzeus]

Hey Kyle and the rest of the BS crew. I just wanted to say thank you. I'm in my first year of studying microbiology and neuroscience and have been concerned about what I was going to write my thesis on in my final year and this video has pointed me in the right direction. Keep up the good work.

[@elgiba1]

Great show as always :D Even in the comics this diagnosis would be “kind of” correct, during the batman’s metal event appeared a batman who killed his joker and subsequently got infected because of it, and if its some kind os CJD i can imagine that killing the host could cause the desease to spread to nearby people Ps: hope i can finally make it to foot notes

[@johnbielanski9997]

Video idea- how do super suits work? Ie flashes suit handle super speed or mr fantastics stretching suit etc.

[@garrysmith9515]

Woot! Thanks, Kyle!