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The Batman character first appeared in Detective Comics #27 on March 30, 1939.
The Joker’s first appearance occurred in Batman #1 in 1940.
The Batman: The Dark Knight movie has earnings of 1.006 billion dollars.
Sometimes when we hear about Batman we usually think of the bat man and one of his most memorable villains like the Joker or Joker (name in English). However, very few of us have thought about what type or class of mental illnesses surround the villains of the Batman universe.
What is mental health?
According to the National Commission Against Addictions, Mental health is more than the mere absence of mental disorders. Mental health concepts include subjective well-being, autonomy, competence, intergenerational dependency, and recognition of the ability to perform intellectually and emotionally.
It has also been defined as a state of well-being whereby individuals recognize their abilities, are able to cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively and fruitfully, and contribute to their communities.
Mental diseases?
According to the Mayo Clinic, A mental illness, also called a “mental health disorder,” refers to a wide range of mental health conditions, that is, disorders that affect mood, thinking, and behavior. Examples of mental illness are depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and addictive behaviors.
Mentally Ill Batman Villains
Mad Hatter – Paranoid Schizophrenia
Jervis Tetch, better known as The Mad Hatter, is a neuroscientist who experimented with mind control using computer chips on rats and later used it on humans. Tetch was based on the Mad Hatter character from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.
Tetch began his career as a criminal trying to kill his assistant’s boyfriend for Alicia’s unrequited love. His plan was that once the two of them were under his control, he would make the boyfriend kill himself and Alicia act like a loving and obedient wife.
Firefly – Pyromania
Garfield Lynns or Firefly was an expert pyrotechnician for the movies, but became a victim of Gotham City’s abject poverty and turned to crime, showing signs of pyromania.
Firefly took up setting things on fire as a hobby, however it soon became an obsession, as she believes she can see visions in flames. Inspired by fireflies he built a suit and became a professional arsonist. One of his plans foiled by Batman was to burn down all the places he couldn’t go as a child.
Two-Face – Dissociative Identity Disorder
Harvey Dent was a renowned Gotham City district attorney and an ally of Batman, but turned psychotic and became the criminal Two-Face when the left half of his face was deformed by being sprayed with acid during a trial.
Since then, he makes decisions between good or evil by tossing a coin. Dent is a person with a multiple personality disorder with deep childhood traumas where his physical disfigurement only triggered his psychopathy.
The Riddle – Autism Spectrum Disorder
Edward Nigma or The Riddler, has its origin in the abuse he suffered as a child by his father, who decided to hit him out of envy that Edward got the highest grades in school tests. His father was unable to understand that his son was brilliant and beat him up for believing that he had cheated.
This left him with a strong desire to always tell the truth and defend his innocence, for this desire manifests itself in his obsession with riddles. Nigma decided to commit puzzling crimes to have a duel of wits between himself and the law, where he would always win. Dressed in a green suit covered in question marks, he turned delinquent and set out to gain fame as the Riddler.
The Joker – Borderline Personality Disorder/ Pseudobulbar Affect
Within the different origins of the Joker, one of the most famous is the one included in the comic “The Killing Joke” (The murderous joke in Spanish) where he is originally described as an engineer of a chemical plant who quit his job to persecute his dream of being a stand-up comedian, which was unsuccessful.
In a desperate attempt to help his pregnant wife, he agrees to help two criminals break into the plant where he worked. While planning the robbery, the police contact him to inform him that his wife and his unborn child have died in a domestic accident.
Upon entering the plant they are captured by the security of the place triggering a fatal shootout, in which the two criminals are killed. He tries to escape, terrified to see Batman, jumps over a rail and falls into a tank of chemicals.
As he leaves he removes his hood and sees in his reflection the white skin on his face, red lips, and green hair. These events, along with his other misfortunes that day, propelled the engineer to go through a massive personality change that results in the birth of the Joker.
Since his first appearance in Batman #1, he has been willing and eager to cause as much damage as possible to innocent people in order to claim the place of Gotham City’s greatest criminal mastermind.
Throughout his decades of war with Batman, he has committed crimes both capricious and brutally inhuman, all with a logic and reasoning that, in Batman’s words, “makes sense only to him.”
These are some of the Batman Villains who have mental illnesses. Do you know any other?
Related Notes:
These are the mental illnesses Batman suffers from in the comics
Psychiatrist diagnoses Mafe Walker with these mental disorders
Winnie the Pooh characters represent these mental disorders