The Jonkler has been a key figure in Reddit’s deeply shady community and the /r/BatmanArkham subreddit for several months, but the introduction of the Evil Jonkler Cart could be the first step in a major shake-up within the Jonkler community.
Most people know him simply as “Joker,” but “Jonkler” is a name given to some fans of the Joker’s version from Batman: Arkham video game series.
But how did memes about the Jonkler pop up and make their way from a niche video game subreddit to the mainstream meme pages of TikTok? Why do people insist on misspelling the Joker’s name as “The Jonkler”? Are they stupid?
Here’s a recap of Jonkler’s beginnings and how it went from a running joke on Reddit to a fan cult revolving around a supposedly “evil” Jonkler vaporizer.
Where do the memes about “Jonkler” come from?
“The Jonkler” is basically a deliberate misspelling of “The Joker,” which refers to a specific version of the comic book villain as he appears in the Batman: Arkham Video game series. Jokes about the “Jonkler” are usually written in broken or grammatically incorrect English.
One of the earliest known jokes about the Jonkler was posted on Reddit’s /r/BatmanArkham on April 21, 2023, with one Redditor writing, “Why does the Jonkler do this? Is he stupid?”
How did jokes about the Jonkler spread on the Internet?
Jokes about the Jonkler continued to circulate online, often paired with another running joke on the subreddit; people asking, “Is he stupid?” For example, various Reddit users posted jokes about a gender-switched Joker courting Batman in August 2023, asking each other, “Why did the Jonkler become a woman? Is he stupid?”
Various YouTubers have created meme compilations of some of the funnier Jonkler jokes from the subreddit, including Big A-ron and Christendo64, who both garnered over 300,000 views on their 2023 YouTube videos.
Why do people make jokes about an “evil Jonkler car”?
Jokes about an “evil jonkler wagon” originated from a low-res TikTok trend from May 2024, after TikToker _und1sput3d_ posted a blurry video of the Joker moving his head erratically and letting out a maniacal laugh. The video was captioned “When brother takes the evil jonkler wagon.”
@_und1sput3d_ why did Jonkler do that? is he stupid? #meme #batmanarkhamknight ♬ Original sound – undisputed
In the summer of 2024, more variations of the Evil Jonkler Cart meme appeared on the internet. Some people noticed that Evil Jonkler Cart’s laughter resembled a remix of China’s talent Contestant Liu Lei laughs during an appearance on the show.
@realace5star jonkler evil cart #fyp #fy #viral #trending #trend #slideshow #edit #goated #slide #gyatt #ishowspeedclipz #joker #cart ♬ Original sound – 🙅♂️❌
@sparklesandchampagne1738 My downfall must be investigated 😭🙏 #nevergoon #joker #thesmurfs #smurf #minion #minions #despicableme #fyp ♬ Never goon audio – Kindeross
The complete story of The JugglerBe sure to check out Know Your Meme’s encyclopedia entry for more information.