The relationship between Batman and the Joker in DC Comics is one of pop culture's most high profile conflicts. Explored in dozens of comics, movies, and video games, scores of creators have offered their own explanations for the Dark Knight's decades-old feud with the Clown Prince of Crime. As it turns out, one iconic line from Bane in the Christopher Nolan film, The Dark Knight Rises, puts Batman and the Joker's relationship into perfect clarity.

In the first scene of The Dark Knight Rises, the villain Bane utters the line, "No one cared who I was until I put on the mask." While the line has gained a new life of its own as a meme, it speaks to the Batman's condition in his relationship with Joker, explored in the "Death of the Family" storyline centered around Batman #13-17 from DC's New 52 era. Written by Scott Snyder with art from Greg Capullo, Jock, and Jonathan Glapion, "Death of the Family" depicted the Joker's attempts to use Batman's love for his family against him, citing his adopted children as a point of weakness. By wreaking havoc on the Bat-Family, Joker sought to remind Batman of a simpler time when it was just the two of them, duking it out in Gotham City. The story hinged upon a startling revelation that Joker may have discovered Batman's secret identity, and by extension the rest of the Bat-Family's, which Bruce repeatedly denied the possibility of.

Related: Batman: Death of the Family's JOKER is Still The Darkest

At the arc's conclusion in Batman #17, Bruce tells Alfred that early on in his career as Batman, he made a visit to Arkham Asylum under the guise of philanthropy, where he directly confirmed his identity as Batman to Joker. To his surprise, Joker stared impassively at both Bruce and the card he held against the glass of the cell. Bruce says, "It was then that I knew–knew that he didn't care who I was beneath the mask, and he never would. Knew that he was incapable of even broaching the subject of Bruce Wayne. It would ruin his fun."

Bruce Wayne reveals his identity as Batman to Joker in Batman #17

Joker's reaction to Bruce Wayne's admission that he was Batman proves that like Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, no one cared about Bruce Wayne until he put on the mask. For someone like Joker, whose humanity is so far removed, seeing Batman as a man in a suit isn't a point of interest. Joker is more invested in seeing his foe as another costumed persona, whose real identity is just as shadowy as his own. This speaks to another Batman theme evident in Snyder's New 52 run, where Batman functioned as an "idea" in Gotham City, as opposed to a physical person.

In this sense, Joker's actions reveal the extent to which his own identity as a villain is constructed around his opposition to ideological figures like Batman. Without Batman, or any other extreme foil, the Joker is meaningless, as his behavior in his cell at Arkham evidences. This further advances what has made Joker such an inscrutable villain for decades, whose humanity, or lack thereof, has been a massive point of contention. Snyder's writing shows that the Joker truly isn't a man, but a reactionary force incapable of being moved by human interaction. What his actual identity is is negligible. This very idea speaks to the ethos behind Bane's mask line from The Dark Knight Rises, and the philosophical core of Batman and Joker's relationship.

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