document_title: Joker (character)

question_text: who was the joker before becoming the joker

text: Joker (character)

text: Creation and development

text: Concept

text: Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson are credited with creating the Joker, but their accounts of the character's conception differ, each providing his own version of events. Finger's, Kane's, and Robinson's versions acknowledge that Finger produced an image of actor Conrad Veidt in character as Gwynplaine (a man with a disfigured face, giving him a perpetual grin) in the 1928 film The Man Who Laughs as an inspiration for the Joker's appearance, and Robinson produced a sketch of a joker playing card (right).[2][7]

text: Robinson claimed that it was his 1940 card sketch that served as the character's concept, and which Finger associated with Veidt's portrayal.[2] Kane hired the 17-year-old Robinson as an assistant in 1939, after he saw Robinson in a white jacket decorated with his own illustrations.[8][9] Beginning as a letterer and background inker, Robinson quickly became primary artist for the newly created Batman comic book series. In a 1975 interview in The Amazing World of DC Comics, Robinson said he wanted a supreme arch-villain who could test Batman, but not a typical crime lord or gangster designed to be easily disposed. He wanted an exotic, enduring character as an ongoing source of conflict for Batman (similar to the relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty), designing a diabolically sinister-but-clownish villain.[10][11][12] Robinson was intrigued by villains; his studies at Columbia University taught him that some characters are made up of contradictions, leading to the Joker's sense of humor. He said that the name came first, followed by an image of a playing card from a deck he often had at hand: "I wanted somebody visually exciting. I wanted somebody that would make an indelible impression, would be bizarre, would be memorable like the Hunchback of Notre Dame or any other villains that had unique physical characters."[13][14] He told Finger about his concept by telephone, later providing sketches of the character and images of what would become his iconic Joker playing-card design. Finger thought the concept was incomplete, providing the image of Veidt with a ghastly, permanent rictus grin.[10]

text: Kane countered that the Robinson's sketch was produced only after Finger had already shown the Gwynplaine image to Kane, and that it was only used as a card design belonging to the Joker in his early appearances.[7] Finger said that he was also inspired by an image in Steeplechase Park at Coney Island that resembled a Joker's head, which he sketched and later shared with future editorial director Carmine Infantino.[15] In a 1994 interview with journalist Frank Lovece, Kane stated his position:

text: Bill Finger and I created the Joker. Bill was the writer. Jerry Robinson came to me with a playing card of the Joker. That's the way I sum it up. [The Joker] looks like Conrad Veidt – you know, the actor in The Man Who Laughs, [the 1928 movie based on the novel] by Victor Hugo. ... Bill Finger had a book with a photograph of Conrad Veidt and showed it to me and said, 'Here's the Joker'. Jerry Robinson had absolutely nothing to do with it, but he'll always say he created it till he dies. He brought in a playing card, which we used for a couple of issues for him [the Joker] to use as his playing card.[16][17]

text: Robinson credited himself, Finger and Kane for the Joker's creation. He said he created the character as Batman's larger-than-life nemesis when extra stories were quickly needed for Batman #1, and he received credit for the story in a college course:[18]

text: In that first meeting when I showed them that sketch of the Joker, Bill said it reminded him of Conrad Veidt in The Man Who Laughs. That was the first mention of it ... He can be credited and Bob himself, we all played a role in it. The concept was mine. Bill finished that first script from my outline of the persona and what should happen in the first story. He wrote the script of that, so he really was co-creator, and Bob and I did the visuals, so Bob was also.[19]

text: Finger provided his own account in 1966:

text: I got a call from Bob Kane.... He had a new villain. When I arrived he was holding a playing card. Apparently Jerry Robinson or Bob, I don't recall who, looked at the card and they had an idea for a character ... the Joker. Bob made a rough sketch of it. At first it didn't look much like the Joker. It looked more like a clown. But I remembered that Grosset & Dunlap formerly issued very cheap editions of classics by Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo ... The volume I had was The Man Who Laughs — his face had been permanently operated on so that he will always have this perpetual grin. And it looked absolutely weird. I cut the picture out of the book and gave it to Bob, who drew the profile and gave it a more sinister aspect. Then he worked on the face; made him look a little clown-like, which accounted for his white face, red lips, green hair. And that was the Joker![20]

text: Although Kane adamantly refused to share credit for many of his characters (and refuted Robinson's claim until Kane's death), many comic historians credit Robinson with the Joker's creation and Finger with the character's development.[2][7][8][15] By 2011, Finger, Kane, and Robinson had died, leaving the story unresolved.[10][15][21]

text: Golden Age

text: The Joker debuted in Batman #1 (Spring 1940) as the eponymous character's first villain, shortly after Batman's debut in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). The Joker initially appeared as a remorseless serial killer, modeled after a joker playing card with a mirthless grin, who killed his victims with "Joker venom": a toxin which left their faces smiling grotesquely.[22] The character was intended to be killed in his second appearance in Batman #1, after being stabbed in the heart. Finger wanted the Joker to die because of his concern that recurring villains would make Batman appear inept, but was overruled by then-editor Whitney Ellsworth; a hastily drawn panel, indicating that the Joker was still alive, was added to the comic.[2][23][24] The Joker went on to appear in nine of Batman's first twelve issues.[25]

text: The character's regular appearances quickly defined him as the archenemy of the dynamic duo, Batman and Robin; he killed dozens of people, and even derailed a train. By issue #13, Kane's work on the syndicated Batman newspaper strip left him little time for the comic book; artist Dick Sprang assumed his duties, and editor Jack Schiff collaborated with Finger on stories. Around the same time, DC Comics found it easier to market its stories to children without the more mature pulp elements that had originated many superhero comics. During this period, the first changes in the Joker began to appear, portraying him more as a prankster than threat; when he kidnaps Robin, Batman pays the ransom by check, meaning that the Joker cannot cash it without being arrested.[26] Comic book writer Mark Waid suggests that the 1942 story "The Joker Walks the Last Mile" was the beginning point for the character's transformation into a more goofy incarnation, a period that Grant Morrison considered lasted the following thirty years.[27]

text: The 1942 cover of Detective Comics #69, known as "Double Guns" (with the Joker emerging from a genie lamp, aiming two guns at Batman and Robin), is considered one of the greatest superhero comic covers of the Golden Age and is the only image of the character using traditional guns. Robinson said that other contemporary villains used guns, and the creative team wanted the Joker—as Batman's adversary—to be more resourceful.[13][28]

text: Silver Age

text: The Joker was one of the few popular villains continuing to appear regularly in Batman comics from the Golden Age into the Silver Age, as the series continued during the rise in popularity of mystery and romance comics. In 1951, Finger wrote an origin story for the Joker in Detective Comics #168, which introduced the characteristic of him formerly being the criminal Red Hood, and his disfigurement the result of a fall into a chemical vat.[29]

text: By 1954, the Comics Code Authority had been established in response to increasing public disapproval of comic book content. The backlash was inspired by Frederic Wertham, who hypothesized that mass media (especially comic books) was responsible for the rise in juvenile delinquency, violence and homosexuality, particularly in young males. Parents forbade their children from reading comic books, and there were several mass burnings.[2] The Comics Code banned gore, innuendo and excessive violence, stripping Batman of his menace and transforming the Joker into a goofy, thieving trickster without his original homicidal tendencies.[23][30]

text: The character appeared less frequently after 1964, when Julius Schwartz (who disliked the Joker) became editor of the Batman comics.[2][23][31] The character risked becoming an obscure figure of the preceding era until this goofy prankster version of the character was adapted into the 1966 television series Batman, in which he was played by Cesar Romero.[2][23] The show's popularity compelled Schwartz to keep the comics in a similar vein. As the show's popularity waned, however, so did that of the Batman comics.[2][31] After the TV series ended in 1968, the increase in public visibility had not stopped the comic's sales decline; editorial director Carmine Infantino resolved to turn things around, moving stories away from schoolboy-friendly adventures.[32] The Silver Age introduced several of the Joker's defining character traits: lethal joy buzzers, acid-squirting flowers, trick guns, and goofy, elaborate crimes.[33][34]

text: Bronze Age

text: In 1973, after a four-year disappearance,[2] the Joker was revived (and revised) by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams. Beginning with Batman #251's "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge", the character returns to his roots as an impulsive, homicidal maniac who matches wits with Batman.[35][36] This story began a trend in which the Joker was used, sparingly, as a central character.[37] O'Neil said his idea was "simply to take it back to where it started. I went to the DC library and read some of the early stories. I tried to get a sense of what Kane and Finger were after."[38] O'Neil's 1973 run introduced the idea of the Joker being legally insane, to explain why the character is sent to Arkham Asylum (introduced by O'Neil in 1974 as Arkham Hospital) instead of to prison.[39] Adams modified the Joker's appearance, changing his more average figure by extending his jaw and making him taller and leaner.[40]

text: DC Comics was a hotbed of experimentation during the 1970s, and in 1975 the character became the first villain to feature as the title character in a comic book series, The Joker.[41] The series followed the character's interactions with other supervillains, and the first issue was written by O'Neil.[42] Stories balanced between emphasizing the Joker's criminality and making him a likable protagonist whom readers could support. Although he murdered thugs and civilians, he never fought Batman; this made The Joker a series in which the character's villainy prevailed over rival villains, instead of a struggle between good and evil.[43] Because the Comics Code Authority mandated punishment for villains, each issue ended with the Joker being apprehended, limiting the scope of each story. The series never found an audience, and The Joker was cancelled after nine issues (despite a "next issue" advertisement for an appearance by the Justice League).[42][44][43] The complete series became difficult to obtain over time, often commanding high prices from collectors. In 2013, DC Comics reissued the series as a graphic novel.[45]

text: When Jenette Kahn became DC editor in 1976, she redeveloped the company's struggling titles; during her tenure, the Joker would become one of DC's most popular characters.[43] While O'Neil and Adams' work was critically acclaimed, writer Steve Englehart and penciller Marshall Rogers's eight-issue run in Detective Comics #471–476 (August 1977-April 1978) defined the Joker for decades to come[35] with stories emphasizing the character's insanity. In "The Laughing Fish", the Joker disfigures fish with a rictus grin resembling his own (expecting copyright protection), and is unable to understand that copyrighting a natural resource is legally impossible.[36][39][46][47] Englehart and Rogers' work on the series influenced the 1989 film Batman, and was adapted for 1992's Batman: The Animated Series.[39][48] Rogers expanded on Adams' character design, drawing the Joker with a fedora and trench coat.[40] Englehart outlined how he understood the character by saying that the Joker "was this very crazy, scary character. I really wanted to get back to the idea of Batman fighting insane murderers at 3 a.m. under the full moon, as the clouds scuttled by."[23]

text: Modern Age

text: Years after the end of the 1966 television series, sales of Batman continued to fall and the title was nearly canceled. Although the 1970s restored the Joker as an insane, lethal foe of Batman, it was during the 1980s that the Batman series started to turn around and the Joker came into his own as part of the "dark age" of comics: mature tales of death and destruction. The shift was derided for moving away from tamer superheroes (and villains), but comic audiences were no longer primarily children.[49][35] Several months after Crisis on Infinite Earths launched the era by killing off Silver-Age icons such as the Flash and Supergirl and undoing decades of continuity,[50] Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns (1986) re-imagined Batman as an older, retired hero[51] and the Joker as a lipstick-wearing celebrity[40][50] who cannot function without his foe.[52] The late 1980s saw the Joker exert a significant impact on Batman and his supporting cast. In the 1988–89 story arc "A Death in the Family", the Joker murders Batman's sidekick (the second Robin, Jason Todd). Todd was unpopular with fans; rather than modify his character, DC opted to let them vote for his fate and a 72-vote plurality had the Joker beat Todd to death with a crowbar. This story altered the Batman universe: instead of killing anonymous bystanders, the Joker murdered a core character in the Batman fiction; this had a lasting effect on future stories.[53][54] Written at the height of tensions between the United States and Iran, the story's conclusion had Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini appoint the Joker his country's ambassador to the United Nations (allowing him to temporarily escape justice).[55]

text: Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's 1988 graphic novel The Killing Joke expands on the Joker's origins, describing the character as a failed comedian who adopts the identity of Red Hood to support his pregnant wife.[29][56] Unlike The Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke takes place in mainstream continuity.[57] The novel is described by critics as one of the greatest Joker stories ever written, influencing later comic stories (including the forced retirement of then-Batgirl Barbara Gordon after she is paralyzed by the Joker) and films such as 1989's Batman and 2008's The Dark Knight.[58][59][60] Grant Morrison's 1989 Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth explores the psychoses of Batman, the Joker and other rogues in the eponymous facility.[61][62]

text: The 1992 animated series introduced the Joker's female sidekick: Harley Quinn, a psychiatrist who falls for—and ends up in an abusive relationship with—the Joker, becoming his supervillain accomplice. The character was popular, and was adapted into the comics as the Joker's romantic interest in 1999.[63] In the same year, Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle's comic book Anarky concluded with the revelation that the titular character was the Joker's son. Breyfogle conceived the idea as a means to expand on Anarky's characterization, but O'Neil (by then the editor for the Batman series of books) was opposed to it, and only allowed it to be written under protest, and with a promise that the revelation would eventually be revealed incorrect. However, the Anarky series was cancelled before the rebuttal could be published.[64] The Joker's first major storyline in The New 52, DC Comics' 2011 reboot of story continuity, was 2012's "Death of the Family" by writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo. The story arc explores the symbiotic relationship between Joker and Batman, and sees the villain shatter the trust between Batman and his adopted family.[25][65] Capullo's Joker design replaced his traditional outfit with a utilitarian, messy, and disheveled appearance to convey that the character was on a mission; his face (surgically removed in 2011's Detective Comics #1) was reattached with belts, wires, and hooks, and he was outfitted with mechanics overalls.[66] The Joker's face was restored in Snyder's and Capullo's "Endgame" (2014), the concluding chapter to "Death of the Family".[67][68]

text: Character biography

text: The Joker has undergone many revisions since his 1940 debut. The most common interpretation of the character is that he is disguised as the criminal Red Hood, and pursued by Batman. The Joker falls into a vat of chemicals which bleaches his skin, colors his hair green and his lips red, and drives him insane. The reasons why the Joker was disguised as the Red Hood, and his identity before his transformation have changed over time.[23]

text: The character was introduced in Batman #1 (1940), in which he announces that he will kill three of Gotham's prominent citizens (including Mayor Henry Claridge). Although the police protect Claridge, the Joker had poisoned him before making his announcement and Claridge dies with a ghastly grin on his face; Batman eventually defeats him, sending him to prison.[69] The Joker commits whimsical, brutal crimes for reasons that, in Batman's words, "make sense to him alone".[46] Detective Comics #168 (1951) introduced the Joker's first origin story as Red Hood: a criminal who, during his final heist, vanishes after leaping into a vat of chemicals to escape Batman. His resulting disfigurement led him to adopt the name "Joker", from the playing card figure he came to resemble.[29] The Joker's Silver-Age transformation into a figure of fun was established in 1952's "The Joker's Millions". In this story the Joker is obsessed with maintaining his illusion of wealth and celebrity as a criminal folk hero, afraid to let Gotham's citizens know that he is penniless and was tricked out of his fortune.[70] The 1970s redefined the character as a homicidal psychopath. "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge" has the Joker taking violent revenge on the former gang members who betrayed him;[37] in "The Laughing Fish" the character chemically adds his face to Gotham's fish (hoping to profit from a copyright), killing bureaucrats who stand in his way.[36]

text: Batman: The Killing Joke (1988) built on the Joker's 1951 origin story, portraying him as a failed comedian pressured into committing crime as the Red Hood to support his pregnant wife. Batman's interference causes him to leap into a chemical vat, which disfigures him. This, combined with the trauma of his wife's earlier accidental death, causes him to go insane and become the Joker.[29] However, the Joker says that this story may not be true, as he prefers his past to be "multiple choice".[71] In this graphic novel, the Joker shoots and paralyzes Barbara Gordon and tortures her father, Commissioner James Gordon, to prove that it only takes one bad day to drive a normal man insane.[57] After Batman rescues Gordon and subdues the Joker, he offers to rehabilitate his old foe and end their rivalry. Although the Joker refuses, he shows his appreciation by sharing a joke with Batman.[72] Following the character's maiming of Barbara, she became a more important character in the DC Universe: Oracle, a data gatherer and superhero informant, who has her revenge in Birds of Prey by shattering the Joker's teeth and destroying his smile.[57]

text: In the 1988 story "A Death in the Family", the Joker beats Jason Todd with a crowbar and leaves him to die in an explosion. Todd's death haunts Batman, and for the first time he considers killing the Joker.[53] The Joker temporarily escapes justice when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini appoints him the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, giving him diplomatic immunity. However, when he tries to poison the UN membership, he is brought down by Batman and Superman.[35]

text: In the 1999 "No Man's Land" storyline, the Joker murders Commissioner Gordon's second wife, Sarah, as she shields a group of infants.[73] He taunts Gordon, who shoots him in the kneecap. The Joker, lamenting that he may never walk again, collapses with laughter when he realizes that the commissioner has avenged Barbara's paralysis.[74] This story also introduced the Joker's girlfriend, Harley Quinn.[63]

text: The 2000s began with the crossover story "Emperor Joker", in which the Joker steals Mister Mxyzptlk's reality-altering power and remakes the universe in his image (torturing and killing Batman daily, before resurrecting him). When the supervillain then tries to destroy the universe, his reluctance to eliminate Batman makes him lose control and Superman defeats him.[75] Broken by his experience, Batman's experiences of death are transferred to Superman by the Spectre so he can heal mentally.[76]  In "Joker's Last Laugh" (2001), the doctors at Arkham Asylum convince the character that he is dying in an attempt to rehabilitate him. Instead, the Joker (flanked by an army of "Jokerized" supervillains) launches a final crime spree. Believing that Robin (Tim Drake) has been killed in the chaos, Dick Grayson beats the Joker to death (although Batman revives his foe to keep Grayson from being a murderer) and the character succeeds in making a member of the Bat-family break their rule against killing.[35][69]

text: In "Under the Hood" (2005), a resurrected Todd tries to force Batman to avenge his death by killing the Joker. Batman refuses, arguing that if he allows himself to kill the Joker, he will not be able to stop killing other criminals.[77] The Joker kills Alexander Luthor in Infinite Crisis (2005) for excluding him from the Secret Society of Super Villains, which considers him too unpredictable for membership.[78][79] In Morrison's "Batman and Son" (2006), a deranged police officer who impersonates Batman shoots the Joker in the face, scarring and disabling him. The supervillain returns in "The Clown at Midnight" (2007) as a cruel, enigmatic force who awakens and tries to kill Harley Quinn to prove to Batman that he has become more than human.[80][35] In the 2008 story arc "Batman R.I.P." the Joker is recruited by the Black Glove to destroy Batman, but betrays the group, killing its members one by one.[69] After Batman's apparent death in "Final Crisis" (2008), Grayson investigates a series of murders (which leads him to a disguised Joker).[81] The Joker is arrested, and then-Robin Damian Wayne beats him with a crowbar, paralleling Todd's murder. When the Joker escapes, he attacks the Black Glove, burying its leader Simon Hurt alive after the supervillain considers him a failure as an opponent; the Joker is then defeated by the recently returned Batman.[82][83][84]

text: In DC's New 52, a 2011 relaunch of its titles following Flashpoint, the Joker has his own face cut off.[85] He disappears for a year, returning to launch an attack on Batman's extended family in "Death of the Family" so he and Batman can be the best hero and villain they can be.[86] At the end of the storyline, the Joker falls off a cliff into a dark abyss.[86][87] The Joker returns in the 2014 storyline "Endgame" in which he brainwashes the Justice League into attacking Batman, believing he has betrayed their relationship.[88][89] The story implies that the Joker is immortal—having existed for centuries in Gotham as a cause of tragedy after exposure to a substance the Joker terms 'dionesium'—and is able to regenerate from mortal injuries. "Endgame" restores the Joker's face, and also reveals that he knows Batman's secret identity.[67] The story ends with the apparent deaths of Batman and the Joker at each other's hands.[68]

text: Origins

text:
"They've given many origins of the Joker, how he came to be. That doesn't seem to matter—just how he is now. I never intended to give a reason for his appearance. We discussed that and Bill [Finger] and I never wanted to change it at that time. I thought—and he agreed—that it takes away some of the essential mystery."

– Jerry Robinson, the Joker's creator[90]

tag: div

text: Though a number of backstories have been given, a definitive one has not yet been established for the Joker. An unreliable narrator, the character is uncertain of who he was before and how he became the Joker: "Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another ... if I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!"[11][71] A story about the Joker's origin appeared in Detective Comics #168 (February 1951), nearly a decade after the character's debut. Here, the character is a laboratory worker who becomes the Red Hood (a masked criminal) to steal a million dollars from his employer and retire. He falls into a vat of chemical waste when his heist is thwarted by Batman, emerging with bleached white skin, red lips, green hair and a permanent grin.[91][92]

text: This story was the basis for the most often-cited origin tale, Moore's one-shot The Killing Joke.[59] The Joker quits his job as a Lab assistant, becoming a stand-up comedian to support his pregnant wife. Unsuccessful, he agrees to help mobsters with a robbery and dons the Red Hood. The heist goes awry; the comedian leaps into a chemical vat to escape Batman, surfacing disfigured. This, combined with the earlier accidental death of his wife and unborn child, drives the comedian insane and he becomes the Joker.[29][35] This version has been cited in many stories, including Batman: The Man Who Laughs (in which Batman deduces that the Red Hood survived his fall and became the Joker), Batman #450 (in which the Joker dons the Red Hood to aid his recovery after the events in A Death in the Family, but finds the experience too traumatic) and "Death of the Family".[92] Other stories have expanded on this origin; "Pushback" explains that the Joker's wife was murdered by a corrupt policeman working for the mobsters,[93] and "Payback" gives the Joker's first name as "Jack".[92]

text: However, the Joker's unreliable memory has allowed writers to develop other origins for the character.[92] "Case Study", a Paul Dini-Alex Ross story, describes the Joker as a sadistic gangster who creates the Red Hood identity to continue the thrill of small-time criminality. He has his fateful first meeting with Batman, which results in his disfigurement. It is suggested that the Joker is sane, and feigns insanity to avoid the death penalty. In Batman Confidential (#7–12), the character, Jack, is a talented criminal who is bored with his work. He encounters (and becomes obsessed with) Batman during a heist, embarking on a crime spree to attract his attention. After Jack injures Batman's girlfriend, Batman scars Jack's face with a permanent grin and betrays him to a group of mobsters, who torture him in a chemical plant. Jack escapes, but falls into an empty vat as gunfire punctures chemical tanks above him. The flood of chemicals (used in anti-psychotic medication) alters his appearance and completes his transformation.[94] The superhero Atom sees the Joker's memory of burning his parents alive (after they find him killing animals) in The Brave and the Bold #31,[95] and Snyder's "Zero Year" (2013) suggests that the pre-disfigured Joker was a criminal mastermind leading a gang of Red Hoods.[88][96]

text: The Joker has claimed a number of origins, including being the child of an abusive father who broke his nose and the long-lived jester of an Egyptian pharaoh. As Batman says, "Like any other comedian, he uses whatever material will work".[97]

text: Alternative versions

text: A number of alternate universes in DC Comics publications allow writers to introduce variations on the Joker, in which the character's origins, behavior, and morality differ from the mainstream setting.[98] The Dark Knight Returns depicts the final battle between an aged Batman and Joker; others portray the aftermath of the Joker's death at the hands of a number of characters, including Superman.[75][99] Still others describe distant futures in which the Joker is a computer virus or a hero trying to defeat the era's tyrannical Batman.[100] In some stories, the Joker is someone else entirely; "Flashpoint" features Batman's mother Martha Wayne as the Joker in response to her son's murder,[101] and in Superman: Speeding Bullets Lex Luthor becomes the Joker in a world where Superman is Batman.[102]

text: Characterization

text: Renowned as Batman's greatest enemy,[103][104][105][106] the Joker is known by a number of nicknames, including the Clown Prince of Crime, the Jester of Genocide,[105] the Harlequin of Hate, and the Ace of Knaves.[107] During the evolution of the DC Universe, interpretations and versions of the Joker have taken two forms. The original, dominant image is that of an extreme psychopath,[108] with genius-level intelligence and a warped, sadistic sense of humor.[109][110] The other version, popular in comic books from the late 1940s to the 1960s and in the 1960s television series, is an eccentric, harmless prankster and thief.[111] Like other long-lived characters, the Joker's character and cultural interpretations have changed with time, however unlike other characters who may need to reconcile or ignore previous versions to make sense, more than any other comic book character, the Joker thrives on his mutable and irreconcilable identities.[112] The Joker is typically seen in a purple suit with a long-tailed, padded-shoulder jacket, a string tie, gloves, striped pants and spats on pointed-toe shoes (sometimes with a wide-brimmed hat). This appearance is such a fundamental aspect of the character that when the 2004 animated series The Batman placed the Joker in a straitjacket, it quickly redesigned him in his familiar suit.[111]

text: The Joker is obsessed with Batman, the pair representing a yin-yang of opposing dark and light force; although it is the Joker who represents humor and color and Batman who dwells in the dark.[113] Murder, theft, and terrorism, no crime is beyond the Joker, and his exploits are a theatrical performance that are funny to him alone. Spectacle is more important than success for the Joker, and if it is not spectacular it is boring.[114] Although the Joker claims indifference to everything, he secretly craves Batman's attention and validation.[115][36] The character was described as having killed over 2,000 people in The Joker: Devil's Advocate (1996). Despite this body count, he is always found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to Arkham Asylum, avoiding the death penalty.[116][117] Many of the Joker's acts attempt to force Batman to kill; if the most orderly and self-controlled of humans can murder, anyone is capable of becoming a monster like the Joker. The villain displays no instinct for self-preservation, and is willing to die to prove his point.[118] The Joker is the "personification of the irrational", and represents "everything Batman [opposes]".[119]

text: Personality

text: The Joker's main characteristic is his apparent insanity, although he is not described as having any particular psychological disorder. Like a psychopath, he lacks empathy, a conscience, and concern over right and wrong. In A Serious House on Serious Earth, the Joker is described as capable of processing outside sensory information only by adapting to it. This enables him to create a new personality every day (depending on what would benefit him) and explains why, at different times, he is a mischievous clown or a psychopathic killer.[120] In "The Clown at Midnight" (Batman #663, 2007), the Joker enters a meditative state where he evaluates his previous selves to consciously create a new personality, effectively modifying himself for his needs.[121]

text: The Killing Joke (in which the Joker is the unreliable narrator) explains the roots of his insanity as "one bad day": losing his wife and unborn child and being disfigured by chemicals, paralleling Batman's origin in the loss of his parents. He tries (and fails) to prove that anyone can become like him after one bad day by torturing Commissioner Gordon, physically and psychologically.[33][57] Batman offers to rehabilitate his foe; the Joker apologetically declines, believing it too late for him to be saved.[72] Other interpretations show that the Joker is fully aware of how his actions affect others and that his insanity as merely an act.[113] Comics scholar Peter Coogan describes the Joker as trying to reshape reality to fit himself by imposing his face on his victims (and fish) in an attempt to make the world comprehensible by creating a twisted parody of himself. Englehart's "The Laughing Fish" demonstrates the character's illogical nature: trying to copyright fish which bear his face, and not understanding why threatening the copyright clerk cannot produce the desired result.[122][39]

text: The Joker is alternatively depicted as sexual and asexual.[123] In The Dark Knight Returns and Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, the Joker is seductive toward Batman; it is uncertain if their relationship has homoerotic undertones or if the Joker is simply trying to manipulate his nemesis. Frank Miller interpreted the character as fixated on death and uninterested in sexual relationships, while Robinson believes that the Joker is capable of a romantic relationship.[123] His relationship with Harley Quinn is abusively paradoxical; although the Joker keeps her at his side, he heedlessly harms her (for example, throwing her out a window without seeing if she survives). Harley loves him but the Joker does not reciprocate her feelings, chiding her for distracting him from other plans.[124]

text: Snyder's "Death of the Family" describes the Joker as in love with Batman, although not in a traditionally romantic way. The Joker believes that Batman has not killed him because he makes Batman better, and he loves the villain for that.[65][125] Batman comic book writer Peter Tomasi concurred, stating that the Joker's main goal is to make Batman the best that he can be.[126] The Joker and Batman represent opposites: the extroverted Joker wears colorful clothing and embraces chaos, while the introverted, monochromatic Batman represents order and discipline. The Joker is often depicted as defining his existence through his conflict with Batman. In 1994's "Going Sane", the villain tries to lead a normal life after Batman's (apparent) death, only to become his old self again when Batman reappears; in "Emperor Joker", an apparently omnipotent Joker cannot destroy Batman without undoing himself. Since the Joker is simply "the Joker", he believes that Batman is "Batman" (with or without the costume) and has no interest in what is behind Batman's mask, ignoring opportunities to learn Batman's secret identity.[127][75] Given the opportunity to kill Batman, the villain demurs; he believes that without their game, winning is pointless.[115] The character has no desire for typical criminal goals like money or power; his criminality is designed only to continue his game with Batman.[85]

text: The Joker is portrayed as having no fear; when fellow supervillain Scarecrow doses him with fear toxin in Knightfall (1993), the Joker merely laughs and says, "Boo!".[128] The villain has been temporarily rendered sane by several means, including telepathic manipulation by the Martian Manhunter[72] and being resurrected in a life-restoring Lazarus Pit (an experience typically inducing temporary insanity in the subject). At these moments, the Joker is depicted as expressing remorse for his acts;[129][130] however, during a medically induced period of partial sanity in Batman: Cacophony he tells his opponent: "I don't hate you 'cause I'm crazy. I'm crazy 'cause I hate you," and confirms that he will only stop murdering when Batman is dead.[131][132]

text: Skills and equipment

text: The Joker has no inherent superhuman abilities.[133] He commits crimes with a variety of weaponized thematic props such as a deck of razor-tipped playing cards, rolling marbles, Jack-in-the-boxes with unpleasant surprises and exploding cigars capable of leveling a building. The flower in his lapel sprays acid, and his hand often holds a lethal joy buzzer conducting a million volts of electricity, although both items were introduced in 1952 as harmless joke items.[134][34] However, his chemical genius provides his most-notable weapon: Joker venom, a liquid or gaseous toxin which sends its targets into fits of uncontrollable laughter; higher doses can lead to paralysis, coma or death, leaving its victim with a ghoulish, pained rictus grin. The Joker has used venom since his debut; only he knows the formula, and is shown to be gifted enough to manufacture the toxin from ordinary household chemicals. Another version of the venom (used in "Joker's Last Laugh") makes its victims resemble the Joker, susceptible to his orders.[36][69][135][136] The villain is immune to venom and most poisons; in Batman #663 (2007), Morrison writes that being "an avid consumer of his own chemical experiments, the Joker's immunity to poison concoctions that might kill another man in an instant has been developed over years of dedicated abuse."[137][111]

text: The character's arsenal is inspired by his nemesis' weaponry, such as batarangs. In "The Joker's Utility Belt" (1952), he mimicked Batman's utility belt with non-lethal items, such as Mexican jumping beans and sneezing powder.[134] In 1942's "The Joker Follows Suit" the villain built his versions of the Batplane and Batmobile, the Jokergyro and Jokermobile (the latter with a large Joker face on its hood), and created a Joker signal with which criminals could summon him for their heists.[138] The Jokermobile lasted for several decades, evolving with the Batmobile. His technical genius is not limited by practicality, allowing him to hijack Gotham's television airwaves to issue threats, transform buildings into death traps, launch a gas attack on the city and rain poisoned glass shards on its citizens from an airship.[139][140]

text: The Joker is portrayed as skilled in melee combat, from his initial appearances when he defeats Batman in a sword fight (nearly killing him), and others when he overwhelms Batman but declines to kill him.[141] He is talented with firearms, although even his guns are theatrical; his long-barreled revolver often releases a flag reading "Bang", and a second trigger-pull launches the flag to skewer its target.[134][142] Although formidable in combat, the Joker's chief asset is his mind.[100]

text: Relationships

text: The Joker's unpredictable, homicidal nature makes him one of the most feared supervillains in the DC Universe; the Trickster says in the 2005 mini-series Underworld Unleashed, "When super-villains want to scare each other, they tell Joker stories".[143][144] Gotham's villains also feel threatened by the character; depending on the circumstances, he is as likely to fight with his rivals for control of the city as he is to join them for an entertaining outcome.[145] The Joker interacts with other supervillains who oppose Batman, whether he is on the streets or in Arkham Asylum. He has collaborated with criminals like the Penguin, the Riddler and Two-Face, although these partnerships rarely end well due to the Joker's desire for unbridled chaos, and uses his stature to lead others (such as Killer Croc and the Scarecrow).[146] The Joker's greatest rival is the smartest man in the world, Lex Luthor. Although they have a friendly partnership in 1950's World's Finest Comics #88, later unions emphasized their mutual hostility and clashing egos.[147]

text: Despite his tendency to kill subordinates on a whim, the Joker has no difficulty attracting henchmen with a seemingly infinite cash supply and intimidation: they are too afraid of their employer to refuse his demands that they wear red clown noses or laugh at macabre jokes.[139] Even with his unpredictability and lack of superhuman powers, the 2007 limited series Salvation Run sees hundreds of villains fall under his spell because they are more afraid of him than the alternative: Luthor.[148] Batman #186 (1966) introduced the Joker's first sidekick: the one-shot character, Gaggy Gagsworth, who is short, and dressed like a clown; the character was later resurrected as an enemy of his replacement, Harley Quinn.[149][150] Introduced in the 1992 animated series, Quinn is the Joker's former Arkham psychiatrist who develops an obsessive infatuation with him and dons a red-and-black harlequin costume to join him in the 1999 graphic novel Batman: Harley Quinn. Although Quinn loves the Joker, he is obsessed with Batman and uses her to achieve his goals at her expense. Despite violent abuse, she returns to him.[151][150] The Joker is sometimes shown to keep hyenas as pets; this trait was introduced in the 1977 animated series The New Adventures of Batman.[139] A 1976 issue of Batman Family introduced Duela Dent as the Joker's daughter, though her parentage claim was later proven to be false.[43]

text: Although his chief obsession is Batman, the character has occasionally ventured outside Gotham City to fight Batman's superhero allies. In "To Laugh and Die in Metropolis" (1987) the character kidnaps Lois Lane, distracting Superman with a nuclear weapon. The story is notable for the Joker taking on a (relative) god and the ease with which Superman defeats him—it took only 17 pages. Asked why he came to Metropolis, the Joker replies simply: "Oh Superman, why not?"[152] In 1995, the Joker fought his third major DC hero: Wonder Woman, who drew on the Greek god of trickery to temper the Joker's humor and shatter his confidence.[153] The character has joined supervillain groups like the Injustice Gang and the Injustice League, to take on superhero groups like the Justice League.[154][155]

text: Cultural impact

text: The Joker is considered one of, if not, the most-recognizable and iconic fictional characters in popular culture (Batman's arguable equal),[3][4][156] one of the best comic villains, and one of the greatest villains of all-time.[5][6] The character was well-liked following his debut, appearing in nine out of the first twelve Batman issues, and remained one of Batman's most popular foes throughout his publication.[157] The character is considered one of the four top comic book characters, alongside Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man.[156] Indeed, when DC Comics released the original series of Greatest Stories Ever Told (1987–1988) featuring collections of stories about heroes like Batman and Superman, the Joker was the only villain included alongside them.[158] The character has been the focus of ethical discussion on the desirability of Batman (who adheres to an unbreakable code forbidding killing) saving lives by murdering the Joker (a relentless dealer of death). These debates weigh the positive (stopping the Joker permanently) against its effect on Batman's character and the possibility that he might begin killing all criminals.[118][159][160]

text: In 2006, the Joker was number one on Wizard magazine's "100 Greatest Villains of All Time".[161] In 2008 Wizard's list of "200 Greatest Comic Book Characters of All Time" placed the Joker fifth,[162] and the character was eighth on Empire's list of "50 Greatest Comic Book Characters" (the highest-ranked villain on both lists).[163] In 2009 the Joker was second on IGN's list of "Top 100 Comic Book Villains",[164] and in 2011 Wired named him "Comics' Greatest Supervillain".[165] Complex, CollegeHumor and WhatCulture named the Joker the greatest comic book villain of all time[4][133][166] while IGN listed him the top DC Comics villain in 2013,[167] and Newsarama as the greatest Batman villain.[103]

text: The Joker's popularity (and his role as Batman's enemy) has involved the character in most Batman-related media, from television to video games.[2][11] These adaptations of the character have been received positively[25] on film,[168][169] television,[170] and in video games.[171] As in the comics, the character's personality and appearance shift; he is campy, ferocious or unstable, depending on the author and the intended audience.[25]

text: The character inspired theme-park roller coasters (The Joker's Jinx,[172][173] The Joker in Mexico and California,[174][175] and The Joker Chaos Coaster),[176] and featured in story-based rides such as Justice League: Battle for Metropolis.[176] The Joker is one of the few comic book supervillains to be represented on children's merchandise and toys, appearing on items including action figures, trading cards, board games, money boxes, pajamas, socks, and shoes.[177][156] The Jokermobile was a popular toy; a Corgi die-cast metal replica was successful during the 1950s, and in the 1970s a Joker-styled, Flower power-era Volkswagen microbus was manufactured by Mego.[139] In 2015, "The Joker: A Serious Study of the Clown Prince of Crime" became the first academic book to be published about a supervillain.[156]

text: Literary analysis

text: Since the Bronze Age of Comics, the Joker has been interpreted as an archetypal trickster, displaying talents for cunning intelligence, social engineering, pranks, theatricality, and idiomatic humor. Like the trickster, the Joker alternates between malicious violence and clever, harmless whimsy.[179] He is amoral and not driven by ethical considerations, but by a shameless and insatiable nature, and although his actions are condemned as evil, he is necessary for cultural robustness.[180] The trickster employs amoral and immoral acts to destabilize the status quo and reveal cultural, political, and ethical hypocrisies that society attempts to ignore.[181] However, the Joker differs in that his actions typically only benefit himself.[182] The Joker possesses abnormal body imagery, reflecting an inversion of order. The trickster is simultaneously subhuman and superhuman, a being that indicates a lack of unity in body and mind.[183] In Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, the Joker serves as Batman's trickster guide through the hero's own psyche, testing him in various ways before ultimately offering to cede his rule of the Asylum to Batman.[184]

text: Rather than the typical anarchist interpretation, others have analysed the character as a Marxist (opposite to Batman's capitalist), arguing that anarchism requires the rejection of all authority in favor of uncontrolled freedom.[185] The Joker rejects most authority, but retains his own, using his actions to coerce and consolidate power in himself and convert the masses to his own way of thinking, while eliminating any that oppose him.[186] In The Killing Joke, the Joker is an abused member of the underclass who is driven insane by failings of the social system.[187] The Joker rejects material needs, and his first appearance in Batman #1 sees him perpetrate crimes against Gotham's wealthiest men and the judge who had sent him to prison.[188] Batman is wealthy, yet the Joker is able to triumph through his own innovations.[189]

text: Ryan Litsey described the Joker as an example of a "Nietzschean Superman", arguing that a fundamental aspect of Friedrich Nietzsche's Superman, the "will to power", is exemplified in all of the Joker's actions, providing a master morality to Batman's slave morality.[190] The character's indomitable "will to power" means he is never discouraged by being caught or defeated and he is not restrained by guilt or remorse.[191] Joker represents the master, who creates rules and defines them, who judges others without needing approval, and for whom something is good because it benefits him.[192] He creates his own morality and is bound only by his own rules without aspiring to something higher than himself, unlike Batman, the slave, who makes a distinction between good and evil, and is bound to rules outside of himself (such as his avoidance of killing), in his quest for justice.[193] The Joker has no defined origin story that requires him to question how he came to be, as like the Superman he does not regret or assess the past and only moves forward.[194]

text: The Joker's controlling and abusive relationship with Harley Quinn has been analysed as a means of the Joker reinforcing his own belief in his power in a world where he may be killed or neutralized by another villain or Batman.[195] Joker mirrors his identity through Harley in her appearance, and even though he may ignore or act indifferent towards her, he continues to try and subject her to his control.[195] When Harley successfully defeats Batman in Mad Love (1994), the Joker, emasculated by his own failure, severely injures her out of fear of what the other villains will think of him. However, while Harley recovers, the Joker sends her flowers which she accepts, reasserting his control over her.[196]

text: Harley's co-creator, Paul Dini, describes their relationship as Harley being someone who makes the Joker feel better about himself, and who can do the work that he does not want to do himself.[197] In the 1999 one-shot comic Batman: Harley Quinn, the Joker decides to kill Harley, after admitting that he does care for her, that their relationship is romantic, and that these feelings prevent him from fulfilling his purpose.[198] Removing the traditional male-female relationship, such as in the Batman: Thrillkiller storyline where the Joker (Bianca Steeplechase) is a female and involved in a lesbian relationship with Harley, their relationship lacks any aspects of violence or subjugation.[199]

text: In other media

text: The Joker has appeared in a variety of media, including television series, animated and live-action films. WorldCat (a catalog of libraries in 170 countries) records over 250 productions featuring the Joker as a subject, including films, books, and video games,[177] and Batman films featuring the character are typically the most successful.[126] The character's earliest on-screen adaptation was in the 1966 television series Batman and its film adaptation Batman, in which he was played as a cackling prankster by Cesar Romero (reflecting his contemporary comic counterpart).[3][200][201] The Joker then appeared in the animated television series The Adventures of Batman (1968, voiced by Larry Storch),[202] The New Adventures of Batman (1977, voiced by Lennie Weinrib)[203] and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985, voiced by Frank Welker).[204][205]

text: A darker version of the Joker (played by Jack Nicholson) made his film debut in 1989's Batman, which earned over $400 million at the worldwide box office. The role was a defining performance in Nicholson's career and was considered to overshadow Batman's, with film critic Roger Ebert saying that the audience must sometimes remind themselves not to root for the Joker.[206][207] Batman's success led to the 1992 television series, Batman: The Animated Series. Voiced by Mark Hamill, the Joker retained the darker tone of the comics in stories acceptable for young children.[208][209] Hamill's Joker is considered a defining portrayal, and he voiced the character in spin-off films (1993's Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and 2000's Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker), video games (2001's Batman: Vengeance), related series (1996's Superman: The Animated Series, 2000's Static Shock and 2001's Justice League), action figures, toys and amusement-park voiceovers.[210][211][212][213] A redesigned Joker, voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson, appeared in 2004's The Batman; Richardson was the first African-American to play the character.[214][215]

text: After Christopher Nolan's successful 2005 Batman film reboot, Batman Begins, which ended with a teaser for the Joker's involvement in a sequel, the character appeared in 2008's The Dark Knight, played by Heath Ledger as an avatar of anarchy and chaos.[216][217] While Batman Begins earned a worldwide total of $370 million;[218] The Dark Knight earned over $1 billion and was the highest-grossing film of the year, setting several box-office records (including highest-grossing midnight opening, opening day and opening weekend).[219][220] Ledger won a posthumous Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance, the first acting Oscar ever won for a superhero film.[221][222] The Joker has featured in a number of animated projects, such as 2009's Batman: The Brave and the Bold (voiced by Jeff Bennett)[223] and 2011's Young Justice (voiced by Brent Spiner),[224] and comic book adaptations (including 2010's Batman: Under the Red Hood, in which he is voiced by John DiMaggio). In 2012, Michael Emerson voiced the character in a two-part animated adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns.[225][226] Jared Leto portrayed the Joker in Suicide Squad (2016),[227] and Zach Galifianakis voiced the character in The Lego Batman Movie (2017).[228]

text: The Joker has also been featured in video games. Hamill returned to voice the character in 2009's critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham Asylum, its equally praised 2011 sequel Batman: Arkham City and the multiplayer DC Universe Online.[229] Hamill was replaced by Troy Baker for the 2013 prequel, Batman: Arkham Origins, and the Arkham series' animated spin-off Batman: Assault on Arkham,[210][230][231][232] while Hamill returned for the 2015 series finale, Batman: Arkham Knight.[233] Richard Epcar voiced the Joker in the 2008 fighting game, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe,[234] 2013's Injustice: Gods Among Us,[235] and 2017's Injustice 2.[236] The character also appeared in Lego Batman: The Videogame (2008), Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (2012) and its animated adaptation, and Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham (2014) (the latter three voiced by Christopher Corey Smith).[237][238][239] Anthony Ingruber voices the Joker in Batman: The Telltale Series (2016)[240] and Batman: The Enemy Within (2017).[241]


document_title: Declaration of war by the United States

question_text: when is the last time america declared war

root

text: Declaration of war by the United States

text: History[edit]

text: The United States has formally declared war against foreign nations five separate times, each upon prior request by the President of the United States. Four of those five declarations came after hostilities had begun.[3] James Madison reported that in the Federal Convention of 1787, the phrase "make war" was changed to "declare war" in order to leave to the Executive the power to repel sudden attacks but not to commence war without the explicit approval of Congress.[4] Debate continues as to the legal extent of the President's authority in this regard. Public opposition to American involvement in foreign wars, particularly during the 1930s, was expressed as support for a Constitutional Amendment that would require a national referendum on a declaration of war.[5] Several Constitutional Amendments, such as the Ludlow Amendment, have been proposed that would require a national referendum on a declaration of war.

tag: p

text: After Congress repealed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in January 1971 and President Richard Nixon continued to wage war in Vietnam, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution (Pub.L. 93–148) over the veto of Nixon in an attempt to rein in some of the president's claimed powers. The War Powers Resolution proscribes the only power of the president to wage war which is recognized by Congress.[6]

text: Declarations of war[edit]

text: Formal[edit]

text: The table below lists the five wars in which the United States has formally declared war against eleven foreign nations.[7] The only country against which the United States has declared war more than once is Germany, against which the United States has declared war twice (though a case could be made for Hungary as a successor state to Austria-Hungary).

text: In World War II, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Germany and Italy, led respectively by Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, declared war on the United States, and the U.S. Congress responded in kind.[8][9]

text:
War

Declaration

Opponent(s)

Date of declaration

Votes

President

Result

Senate

House

War of 1812

Declaration of War upon the U.K.

 United Kingdom

June 18, 1812

19–13

79–49

James Madison

Treaty of Ghent (December 24, 1814)

Mexican–American War

"An Act providing for the Prosecution of the existing War between the United States and the Republic of Mexico."[10]

 Mexico

May 13, 1846

40–2

173–14

James K. Polk

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (February 2, 1848)

Spanish–American War

Declaration of War upon Spain

 Spain

April 25, 1898

42–35

310–6

William McKinley

Treaty of Paris (December 10, 1898)

World War I

Declaration of War upon Germany

 Germany

April 6, 1917

82–6

373–50

Woodrow Wilson

Treaty of Berlin (August 25, 1921)

Declaration of War upon Austria-Hungary[11][12]

 Austria-Hungary

December 7, 1917

74–0

365–1

1921 U.S.–Austrian Peace Treaty (August 24, 1921), 1921 U.S.-Hungarian Peace Treaty (August 29, 1921)

World War II

Declaration of War upon Japan

 Japan

December 8, 1941

82–0

388–1

Franklin D. Roosevelt

V-J Day, Japanese Instrument of Surrender (September 2, 1945), Treaty of San Francisco (September 8, 1951)

Declaration of War upon Germany

 Germany

December 11, 1941

88–0

393–0

V-E Day, German Instrument of Surrender (May 8, 1945), Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (September 12, 1990), Treaty of Vienna with Austria (May 15, 1955)

Declaration of War upon Italy

 Italy

90–0

399–0

Paris Peace Treaty (February 10, 1947)

Declaration of War upon Bulgaria

 Bulgaria

June 5, 1942

73–0

357–0

Declaration of War upon Hungary[11]

 Hungary

360–0

Declaration of War upon Romania[11]

 Romania

361–0

tag: table

text: Undeclared wars[edit]

text: Military engagements authorized by Congress[edit]

text: In other instances, the United States has engaged in extended military combat that was authorized by Congress.

text:
War or conflict

Opponent(s)

Initial authorization

Votes

President

Result

Senate

House

Quasi-War

 France

An Act further to protect the commerce of the United StatesJuly 9, 1798

18–4

John Adams

Treaty of Mortefontaine

First Barbary War

 Morocco
 Tripolitania

February 6, 1802[13]

Thomas Jefferson

War ended 1805

Second Barbary War

 Algiers

May 10, 1815[14]

James Madison

War ended 1816

Enforcing 1808 slave trade ban; naval squadron sent to African waters to apprehend illegal slave traders

 Slave traders and pirates

"Act in addition to the acts prohibiting the Slave Trade" 1819

James Monroe

1822 first African-American settlement founded in Liberia, 1823 U.S. Navy stops anti-trafficking patrols

Redress for attack on U.S. Navy's USS Water Witch

 Paraguay

1858.[15]

James Buchanan

Mexican Revolution
United States occupation of Veracruz

 Mexico

H.J.R. 251, 38 Stat. 770April 22, 1914

337–37

Woodrow Wilson

Force withdrawn after six months. However, the Joint Resolution was likely used to authorize the Pancho Villa Expedition. In the Senate, "when word reached the Senate that the invasion had gone forward before the use-of-force resolution had been approved, Republicans reacted angrily" saying it was a violation of the Constitution, but eventually after the action had already started, a resolution was passed after the action to "justify" it since Senators did not think it was a declaration of war.[16][17]

Russian Civil War
Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War

 Commune of Estonia
 Far Eastern Republic
 Latvia
 Mongolian People's Party
 Russia
 Ukraine

1918[18]

Woodrow Wilson

Lebanon crisis of 1958

 Lebanese Opposition
 Al-Mourabitoun
 Lebanese Communist Party
 Progressive Socialist Party

H.J. Res. 117, Public Law 85-7, Joint Resolution "To promote peace and stability in the Middle East", March 9, 1957[19]

72–19

355–61

Dwight D. Eisenhower

U.S. forces withdrawn, October 25, 1958

Vietnam War

Laotian Civil War

Cambodian Civil War

 China
National United Front of Kampuchea

 Khmer Rouge
 Khmer Rumdo
 Khmer Việt Minh
 North Korea
 North Vietnam
 Pathet Lao
 South Vietnam

Việt Cộng

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, August 7, 1964

88–2

416–0

Lyndon B. Johnson

U.S. forces withdrawn under terms of the Paris Peace Accords signed January 27, 1973

Multinational Force in Lebanon

Shia and Druze militias; Syria

S.J.Res. 159Pub.L. 98–119September 29, 1983

54–46

253–156

Ronald W. Reagan

Forces withdrawn in 1984

Persian Gulf War

 Iraq

H.J.Res. 77January 12, 1991.

52–47

250–183

George H.W. Bush

The United Nations Security Council drew up terms for the cease-fire, April 3, 1991

War in Afghanistan
Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan
Operation Freedom's Sentinel

al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen

Yemeni Civil War

Somali Civil War

Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa

War in North-West Pakistan

Moro conflict

Operation Enduring Freedom – Philippines

Iraqi Civil War

Operation Inherent Resolve

Syrian Civil War

Operation Inherent Resolve

Second Libyan Civil War

 Afghanistan
Quetta Shura
Taliban
Haqqani network
Mullah Dadullah Front
 al-Qaeda

055 Brigade
Al-Nusra Front
Khorasan group
al-Qaeda Emirate in Yemen
Aden-Abyan Islamic Army
Islamic Jihad of Yemen
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Ansar al-Sharia
al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent
Lashkar al-Zil
 Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya
 Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin
 Islamic Jihad Union
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar
Jundallah
Lashkar-e-Islam
 Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
 Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi
 Turkistan Islamic Party
 Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan

 High Council of the Islamic Emirate
 Fidai Mahaz

 al-Itihaad al-Islamiya
 Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia
 Harakat al-Shabaab Mujahedeen
 Hizbul Islam
 Islamic Courts Union
 Jabhatul Islamiya
 Mu'askar Anole
 Ras Kamboni Brigades

 Abu Sayyaf
 Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters
 Islamic State
 Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
 Maute group
 Khalifa Islamiyah Mindanao

S.J. Res. 23September 14, 2001

98–0

420–1

George W. Bush

Iraq War[20]

 Iraq

H.J. Res. 114, March 3, 2003

77–23

296–132

George W. Bush

Ba'athist Iraqi government deposed April 2003. U.S. combat operations ended August 31, 2010. War ended December 15, 2011. Destabilization of Iraq and emergence of ISIL in the region 2011–present.[21]

text: Military engagements authorized by United Nations Security Council Resolutions and funded by Congress[edit]

text: In many instances, the United States has engaged in extended military engagements that were authorized by United Nations Security Council Resolutions and funded by appropriations from Congress.

text:
Military engagement

Opponent(s)

Initial authorization

President

Result

Korean War

 China
 North Korea
 Soviet Union

UNSCR 84, 1950

Harry S. Truman

Korean Armistice Agreement,[22] 1953

Multinational Force in Lebanon

Shia militias, Druze militias, Syria

UNSCR 425, 1978
UNSCR 426, 1978

Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan

U.S. forces withdrew in 1984

Persian Gulf War

 Iraq

UNSCR 678, 1990

George H. W. Bush

UNSCR 689, 1991

Bosnian War

 Republika Srpska

UNSCR 770, 1992UNSCR 776, 1992UNSCR 836, 1993

Bill Clinton

Reflagged as IFOR in 1995, Reflagged as SFOR in 1996, Completed in 2004

Second Liberian Civil War

Peacekeeping

UNSCR 1497, 2003

George W. Bush

U.S. forces are withdrawn in 2003 after the UNMIL is established.

Haitian coup d'état

UNSCR 1529, 2004
UNSCR 1542, 2004

2004

First Libyan Civil War
2011 military intervention in Libya
Operation Odyssey Dawn
Operation Unified Protector

 Libya

UNSCR 1973, 2011

Barack Obama

Debellation of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, October 31, 2011

text: Other undeclared wars[edit]

text:
Military engagement

Opponent(s)

President

Result

American Revolutionary War

 Great Britain
Quebec
Loyalists
German auxiliaries

 Hesse-Kassel
 Hesse-Hanau
 Hanover
 Waldeck
 Brunswick
 Ansbach
 Anhalt-Zerbst
Native Americans[23]

 Iroquois Confederacy

None

Peace of Paris

text: On at least 125 occasions, the President has acted without prior express military authorization from Congress.[24] These include instances in which the United States fought in the Philippine–American War from 1898–1903, in Nicaragua in 1927, as well as the NATO bombing campaign of Yugoslavia in 1999, and the 2017 missile strikes on Syria.

text: The United States' longest war was fought between approximately 1840 and 1886 against the Apache Nation. During that entire 46-year period, there was never more than 90 days of peace.[citation needed]

text: The Indian Wars comprise at least 28 conflicts and engagements.  These localized conflicts, with Native Americans, began with European colonists coming to North America, long before the establishment of the United States. For the purpose of this discussion, the Indian Wars are defined as conflicts with the United States of America.  They begin as one front in the American Revolutionary War in 1775 and had concluded by 1918. The United States Army still maintains a campaign streamer for Pine Ridge 1890–1891 despite opposition from certain Native American groups.[25]

text: The American Civil War was not an international conflict under the laws of war, because the Confederate States of America was not a government that had been granted full diplomatic recognition as a sovereign nation by other sovereign states.[26][27] The CSA was recognized by the United States government as a belligerent power, a different status of recognition that authorized Confederate warships to visit non-U.S. ports.  This recognition of the CSA's status as a belligerent power did not impose any duty upon the United States to recognize the sovereignty of the Confederacy, and the United States never did so.[citation needed]

text: The War Powers Resolution[edit]

text: In 1973, following the withdrawal of most American troops from the Vietnam War, a debate emerged about the extent of presidential power in deploying troops without a declaration of war. A compromise in the debate was reached with the War Powers Resolution. This act clearly defined how many soldiers could be deployed by the President of the United States and for how long. It also required formal reports by the President to Congress regarding the status of such deployments, and limited the total amount of time that American forces could be deployed without a formal declaration of war.

text: Although the constitutionality of the act has never been tested, it is usually followed, most notably during the Grenada Conflict, the Panamanian Conflict, the Somalia Conflict, the Persian Gulf War, and the Iraq War[clarification needed].  The only exception was President Clinton's use of U.S. troops in the 78-day NATO air campaign against Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War.[citation needed]  In all other cases, the President asserted the constitutional authority to commit troops without the necessity of Congressional approval, but in each case the President received Congressional authorization that satisfied the provisions of the War Powers Act.

text: On March 21, 2011, a number of lawmakers expressed concern that the decision of President Barack Obama to order the U.S. military to join in attacks of Libyan air defenses and government forces exceeded his constitutional authority because the decision to authorize the attack was made without Congressional permission.[28] Obama explained his rationale in a two-page letter, stating that as commander in chief, he had constitutional authority to authorize the strikes, which would be limited in scope and duration, and necessary to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Libya.


document_title: 12 Monkeys (TV series)

question_text: when is season 4 of 12 monkeys coming out

text: 12 Monkeys (TV series)

text: Plot[edit]

text: In the year 2043, scavenger James Cole (Aaron Stanford) has been recruited by a team of "Project Splinter" scientists led by physicist Katarina Jones (Barbara Sukowa), to travel back in time to the year 2015, and stop the release of a deadly virus by the enigmatic organization known as the "Army of the 12 Monkeys". In Cole's original timeline, the virus caused a plague that resulted in the death of seven billion humans in the year 2017, and its on-going mutations will mean the eventual end of the human race. In the 2015 timeline, Cole will meet and enlist the help of brilliant virologist Dr. Cassandra "Cassie" Railly (Amanda Schull); the two are brought together because a recording mentioning Cole, that Cassie made after the viral outbreak, is uncovered by Jones in the future timeline, prompting her to select Cole for the mission. Cole will also encounter a seemingly unstable math genius named Jennifer Goines (Emily Hampshire), whose father Cole has been tasked to kill, Cassie's ex-boyfriend Aaron Marker (Noah Bean), and the dangerous high-ranking members of the Army of the 12 Monkeys, "Pallid Man" (Tom Noonan) and Olivia (Alisen Down). In the future timeline, Cole will also have to deal with his best friend José Ramse (Kirk Acevedo), and a man named Theodore Deacon (Todd Stashwick), who leads a brutal pack of scavengers from which Cole and Ramse fled. Meanwhile, Cole and Cassie will try to unveil the identity and whereabouts of the mysterious leader of the Army of the 12 Monkeys, who is only known as "The Witness", and is always one step ahead of them.

text: SeasonEpisodesOriginally airedFirst airedLast aired113January 16, 2015 (2015-01-16)April 10, 2015 (2015-04-10)213April 18, 2016 (2016-04-18)July 18, 2016 (2016-07-18)310May 19, 2017 (2017-05-19)May 21, 2017 (2017-05-21)411June 15, 2018 (2018-06-15)July 6, 2018 (2018-07-06)

text: Cast and characters[edit]

text: Main[edit]

text:
Aaron Stanford as James Cole, a scavenger who travels back in time to stop the plague and redeem himself from his troubled past[2]
Amanda Schull as Dr. Cassandra "Cassie" Railly, a virologist who leaves a message about the origins of the plague that scientists recover in the future[2]
Kirk Acevedo as José Ramse (seasons 1–3; recurring season 4), Cole's best friend[2]
Noah Bean as Aaron Marker (season 1; guest season 2), Cassie's ex-boyfriend and political insider[2]
Todd Stashwick as Theodore Deacon (season 2–4; recurring season 1), leader of a brutal group of survivors called the West VII[2][3]
Emily Hampshire as Jennifer Goines (season 2–4; recurring season 1), daughter of Leland Goines and a math genius, who meets Cole in a psych ward[2][4]
Barbara Sukowa as Dr. Katarina Jones (née Werner) (season 2–4; recurring season 1), the inventor and operator of the time machine[2][3]

tag: ul

text: Recurring[edit]

text:
Tom Noonan as the man commonly referred as "Tall Man" by the characters,[5][6] and "Pallid Man" by the writers,[7] who is the villainous face of the Army of the 12 Monkeys[2]
Romina D'Ugo as Max (season 1; co-star season 4), a scavenger from the West VII group, and former lover of Cole[8][9]
Demore Barnes as Marcus Whitley, one of the few remaining soldiers of the U.S. military.[9]
Ramon de Ocampo as Oliver Peters (seasons 1–2), Markridge Group's medical researcher
Alisen Down as Olivia Kirschner, also known as "Striking Woman" outside the show, a high-ranking member of the Army of the 12 Monkeys[7]
Amy Sloan as Elena (season 1), mother of Ramse's son
Andrew Gillies as Dr. Julian Adler (seasons 2–4; co-star season 1), a Project Splinter scientist
Michael Hogan as Dr. Vance Eckland (season 2), a charismatic and intelligent scientist from the future[3]
Scottie Thompson as the unnamed woman referred by the writers as "Mantis" (season 2–4)[10] a calculating and menacing time traveler, and mother of the Tall Man and Olivia[11]
Jay Karnes as Robert Gale (season 2–4), a savvy 1940s FBI agent who believes a series of grisly murders may have something to do with Cole, whom he suspects might not be from this time[12]
Brooke Williams as Hannah Jones, also known as "Zeit" (season 2–4),  Katarina and Elliot Jones' biological daughter and the primary motivator for Jones to invent time travel to undo her death.
Murray Furrow as Dr. Lasky (seasons 3–4; co-star seasons 1–2), a Project Splinter scientist
Hannah Waddingham as Magdalena (season 3), a member of the Army of the 12 Monkeys charged with protecting The Witness and who has been dubbed "both ruthless and expedient" in her methods[13]
Faran Tahir as Mallick (season 3–4), an imposing and devout enforcer of the Army of the 12 Monkeys who resides in Titan[13]
James Callis as Athan Cole (season 3; co-star season 4), Cole and Railly's son, who has been raised by the Army of the 12 Monkeys to become their leader known as The Witness[14][15]
Julian Richings as an advisor to Olivia (season 4)[16]
Abigail Hardingham as Emma (season 4), also known as Marion Woods, Olivia's daughter[17]

text: Production[edit]

text: Conception[edit]

text: Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett, who had written together for the series Nikita and Terra Nova, wrote an original spec script television pilot with a time travelling plot, named Splinter.[18] Eventually, the script found its way to Atlas Entertainment's offices, who had produced the 12 Monkeys movie and had been wanting to create a TV series based on it for some time.[19] After some deliberation, Matalas and Fickett came to an agreement with Atlas Entertainment to transform Splinter into a 12 Monkeys adaptation.[20][21] According to Matalas, aside of the overall structure of the plot being an attempt to stop a man from doing something in the past, the concept of the same watch from different points in time, the terminology used for traveling through time ("splintering"), and the female lead character named "Cassie", most of the Splinter pilot was changed.[22]

text: Development[edit]

text:
"Ultimately, our version of predestination – and where it diverges from La Jetée or the original film – is that it's a basically a bullfight, a ballet, against Time. That Time is something to be wrestled with and fought against – and after you've bled and been beaten and gotten your ass thoroughly kicked, maybe you've moved it an inch.
The idea of a closed loop works beautifully in a film, but for the story and the emotion of a TV series to really resonate, the characters and the audience have to believe that change is possible. It's hard-fought and not without causalities along the way, but we've already seen that time can be affected. Whether it can be changed enough – or how Time might account for those changes – are some of the central questions of the show. It's also possible that all of this is a closed loop with several loops inside that loop."
—Terry Matalas, co-creator, on how the time travel model of the series differs from that of its source material.[23]

text: On July 22, 2013, The Hollywood Reporter first revealed that Syfy was developing a 12 Monkeys television adaptation, in the form of a 90-minute backdoor pilot that would lead to a straight-to-series order, similarly to what the Battlestar Galactica miniseries did. The pitch for the pilot, which would be written by Matalas and Picket, was submitted to Syfy by Atlas Entertainment's Charles Roven and Richard Suckle; Roven was one of the producers of the original film. Jon Cassar was reported as being on board to direct.[24] The following month, it was reported that Syfy decided to green-light an hour-long pilot, which would be executive produced by Roven and Suckle, with production set to begin in November.[25] Due to the series being labeled as "cast contingent", production could not move forward until the roles of Cole and Goines were cast.[26] On April 4, 2014, Syfy green-lit the first season, consisting of 13 episodes, including the pilot filmed in 2013. The pilot was directed and executive produced by Jeffrey Reiner; Matalas and Ficket, who wrote it, were announced to co-executive produce the season, while Natalie Chaidez would serve as showrunner.[27] Chaidez credited her experience writing for the first season of Heroes and the two seasons of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, two science fiction series with time traveling plots, as valuable to understanding how to make 12 Monkeys work.[20] Matalas presented the series as a "complete reimagining" of the film and not just a remake, citing Looper as an inspiration for the time travel visual effects.[28] In fact, as Matalas explained, the story of the film was adapted into the first act of the pilot, and from there on, the series follows an original storyline, although it continues to homage both the film and La Jetée.[29] Madeleine Stowe, who played the equivalent of Amanda Schull's character in the film, narrated the opening of the season 2 premiere and made an appearance in its finale.[30] Two major differences compared to the movie are that this version of time travel allows for changes in the past to affect the future, and that the "Army of the 12 Monkeys" is a real organization rather than a red herring.[31]

text: The series creators plotted three seasons in advance, although they noted that the show could go on for longer than that.[32] During the second season they said they need four seasons to tell the complete story.[33] The ending of the series has been known to them since the beginning. Matalas said about it: "We have a definitive target in place. It's very emotional and it's going to make everyone cry."[34] Chaidez said the ending is designed to "circle back".[35]

text: The series premiered on January 16, 2015,[36] and was renewed for a second season on March 12, 2015,[37] which premiered on April 18, 2016.[38] Matalas and Fickett, who had opted for Chaidez to showrun the first season because of her bigger experience working on TV, replaced her during the second season, after her departure to showrun her own TV series, Hunters.[18] Chaidez instead was credited as a consultant for the season.[20] The third season was announced on June 29, 2016,[39] and premiered on May 19, 2017,[40] with the first episode being the directorial debut for Matalas.[41] Fickett left his position as executive producer and was credited as consultant, leaving Matalas the sole showrunner for the season. Nevertheless, Fickett provided the story and helped write the screenplay for the season's fourth episode, "Brothers".[42] In a change over how the previous seasons were released, Syfy aired the entire third season over three consecutive nights. A fourth and final season was announced on March 16, 2017. It consisted of 11 episodes, which premiered on June 15, 2018, and concluded on July 6, 2018.[40][43][44]

text: Filming locations[edit]

text: The pilot for 12 Monkeys was filmed in Detroit.[45][46] Starting with the second episode, the bulk of principal photography for the series took place in Toronto, both on location and at the Cinespace Film Studios,[47][48][49] where they constructed sets like the room with the time machine.[50][51]

text: Additional filming for the first season took place in the Republic of Macedonia, standing in for Chechnya, and the Dominican Republic, masquerading as Haiti.[52][2][53] During the second season, production filmed for roughly 10 days in Budapest.[54][55] Filming in Prague took place for about three weeks for the third season.[56] The reason for moving to Europe was to benefit from the different flair and to use the older architecture for 1950s stand-ins.[55] Production returned to Prague for the fourth season.[57][58] Standing sets used in the series were changed constantly to reflect both older and newer versions of the locales and also alterations to the locations that resulted from the characters' trips through time.[55]

text: Cinematography[edit]

text: Todd McMullen served as director of photography for the pilot, but once the series was ordered to series, David Greene replaced him. After shooting the first five episodes, Greene asked the producers if it would be possible to bring in an additional cinematographer so that they could alternate. Tico Poulakakis was brought in and filmed three episodes for the first season. In the second season, Greene and Poulakakis were joined by Boris Mojsovski, who became Greene's main alternate until the end of the series. To get more shooting days out of the production's schedule, two camera units shot in parallel resulting in episodes featuring work done by both Greene and Mojsovski.[59] Mojsovski said about his close collaboration with Greene: "David and I were constantly working in unison. I'd prelight his sets and he'd prelight mine; I'd shoot one-third of his episode, and he'd shoot one-third of mine. We got so good at that, today we don't know who shot what!"[60]

text: Stylistically, for the scenes set in the bleak future timeline, the production team decided to use a palette of constant blue and green tones, as well as smoke and atmosphere, to differentiate it from the ones set in the present timeline. The present timeline often used a wider range of colors. Green decided to ignore the visual style of the original film, as he felt the series told a different story than it had.[61] Instead, Greene's biggest stylistic influence while establishing the show's look in the first season was the film Children of Men, which he referenced for the look of the future timeline.[60]

text: Filming for the show was done digitally in 1080p. For the first season, the cinematographers used the Arri Alexa Classic EV camera. Beginning with the second season, they transitioned to using the Alexa Mini. Lenses used for the first two seasons were Cooke 5/i and S4, and Leica Summilux-C later. Green mentioned using Panavision Primo lenses as well. In the third season, the MoVi camera stabilizer was used, and for a scene where Cole encounters his future self, the motion control Technodolly.[60][61][62]

text: The American Society of Cinematographers has recognized the artistry and craftsmanship behind the show's cinematography by awarding it once and nominating it another two times, in categories relating to "Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography".[60] The Canadian Society of Cinematographers similarly recognized it with one award and one nomination in the category of "TV Series Cinematography".[63][64]

text: Visual effects[edit]

text: For the first season of 12 Monkeys, visual effects for the series were provided by Stargate Studios. Typical effects work included the "splintering" time travel effect, matte paintings of the decayed future timeline, and enhancing the stage sets.[61] Starting with the second season, Folks VFX took over. According to Sebastien Bergeron, founder and VFX supervisor at Folks VFX, an episode of 12 Monkeys has 60–75 effects shots on average, but any given episode could have as low as 30 or as high as 100–125 shots. Bergeron said the bulk of their work was creating "unseen environments", but other instances of their output included "environment work, big futuristic cities, a time-traveling city, twinning of characters when they meet themselves in the past, destruction, explosions, all sorts of FX and particles – pretty much everything. There are also situations when we freeze the time, and then one character walks in the shot."[65]

text: Music[edit]

text: Trevor Rabin and his longtime assistant Paul Linford composed the series' music for its first two seasons.[66] Varèse Sarabande released the composers' score for the first season, consisting of 23 tracks, digitally and on CD, on July 31, 2015.[67] Rabin called it "a hybrid score of ethnic sounds, orchestra, and electronic, with a strong theme base".[68] The original film's theme music – an arrangement of Astor Piazzolla's Suite Punta del Este made by Paul Buckmaster – can be heard during the ninth episode of the second season, "Hyena".[69]

text: Rabin and Linford did not return for the remaining seasons of the show. Instead, the music for the first few episodes of the third season was composed by Bryce Jacobs.[70] Stephen Barton composed additional music for those episodes and took over as composer for the remaining episodes of the season, and the next.[71] Barton's score for season 3 was released by Varèse Sarabande on December 15, 2017, on CD – and later digitally – and consists of 27 tracks.[72][73]

text: The fourth season's score was released digitally on June 15, 2018, by Lakeshore Records.[74] It consists of 31 tracks by Barton.[75]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: Critical reaction to the first season of 12 Monkeys was mixed to positive. Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator website, reported a 62% critical approval rating with an average rating of 5.98/10 based on 34 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "The nonsensical time travel in 12 Monkeys makes it less watchable than its original source material, but the high quality execution and cool characters are top-notch."[76] On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the season was assigned a score of 57 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[77] Christine Seghers rated the first season 8.8/10 and wrote in her review for IGN: "What started as a simple 'let's go back and fix this' story soon blossomed into a deep philosophical mediation on the concept of predestination versus free will. If you wanted it. The show is also an awful lot of fun."[78] The critical reception of the later episodes of the first season was more positive than the initial reception. The final episode of the season, Arms of Mine, received rave reviews, including a 9.4/10 rating from IGN and a 4.5/5 rating from Den of Geek.[79][80] The twelfth episode of the season, called Paradox, also received rave reviews, including a 9.3/10 rating from IGN and a A- rating from The AV Club.[81][82]

text: The second season was received positively. Rotten Tomatoes indexed 8 reviews and reported an 88% critical approval rating with an average rating of 8.0/10.[83] Seghers, rating the season 9.0/10, wrote for IGN: "In its outstanding sophomore season, 12 Monkeys became bigger, bolder and more beautifully baffling, reaffirming its status as one of the best sci-fi shows on television today."[84] Metacritic indexed one positive review.[85] The episodes Lullaby and Memory of Tomorrow are generally considered to be the best episodes of the second season. Lullaby has a 9.4/10 rating from IGN and a perfect 5/5 rating from Den of Geek.[86][87] Memory of Tomorrow has a 9.6/10 rating from IGN and a 4.5/5 rating from Den of Geek.[88][89]

text: For the third season of 12 Monkeys, Rotten Tomatoes indexed four positive reviews,[90] and Metacritic one positive.[91]

text: Rotten Tomatoes indexed seven positive reviews for the fourth season, leading to a 100% critical approval rating with an average rating of 9.33/10.[92] Metacritic indexed one positive review.[93]

text: Creative response[edit]

text: Before the 12 Monkeys series premiere, Terry Gilliam, director of the original film, expressed his reservations about the concept: "It doesn't have anything to do with me and no-one has contacted me. It's a very dumb idea. ... If it was going to be any good it would have to be written by David and Janet Peoples, who wrote the film, otherwise it would just be another version of Time Bandits."[94] In another interview, Gilliam sounded apprehensive regarding whether Chris Marker – the author of La Jetée, the featurette that inspired Gilliam's film – would approve of the series: "I think that they've got just another time travel series. Of course, Chris Marker is dead, so he doesn't have to see it, what La Jetée spawned."[95] However, according to Matalas, both the Peoples and Marker read the pilot and gave the series creators their blessing and support to move forward with it.[96] The Peoples and Marker are credited in the opening and closing credits of each episode for their respective original works.[97] Madeleine Stowe, lead actress of the original film, became supportive of the filmmakers after watching the pilot, appreciating the differences between her character and Amanda Schull's interpretation.[98] She was later cast in a pivotal role in the second season.[99]

text: Release[edit]

text: Broadcast[edit]

text: Syfy UK and Ireland acquired regional broadcasting rights and 12 Monkeys premiered in the UK and Ireland on February 27, 2015.[100]

text: Home media[edit]

text: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released the first season of the series on DVD and Blu-ray on January 19, 2016.[101] On February 11, 2016, Syfy and Hulu announced that the latter will have the exclusive streaming rights for the first season's episodes, after they are made available on February 24.[102]

text: Universal made available the second season of the show on DVD and Blu-ray on January 17, 2017.[103] The third season was released in Australia by Via Vision Entertainment on May 23, 2018.[104] Universal is set to release the third and fourth seasons on Blu-ray on August 14, 2018.[105]

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text:
Year
Award
Category
Nominee
Result
Ref

2015
Golden Maple Awards
Newcomer of the Year in a TV Series Broadcast in the U.S.
Emily Hampshire
Won
[106]

Saturn Awards
Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series
12 Monkeys
Nominated
[107]

American Society of Cinematographers Awards
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Episode of a Regular Series
David Greene(for "Mentally Divergent")
Nominated
[108]

2016
Golden Maple Awards
Best Actress in a TV Series Broadcast in the U.S.
Emily Hampshire
Nominated
[109]

Canadian Society of Cinematographers Awards
TV Series Cinematography
David Greene(for "Divine Move")
Won
[63]

2017
TV Series Cinematography
Boris Mojsovski(for "Fatherland")
Nominated
[64]

2018
American Society of Cinematographers Awards
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Regular Series for Commercial Television
Boris Mojsovski(for "Thief")
Won
[108]

David Greene(for "Mother")
Nominated