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Joker in manga.
| “ | Father saved us from that pile of rubbish. He gave us hands and legs, allowing us to protect what is most precious to us. That's why we decided to live. Even though it meant living in another kind of hell. | „ |
| ~ Joker |
Joker is the Noah's Ark Circus leader when they are on the road, and he runs the show during performances. While at Baron Kelvin's manor, he acts as Kelvin's butler. He is the secondary villain of the Noah's Ark Circus Arc in the manga and anime series Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler.
In the anime, he was voiced by Mamoru Miyano in the Japanese version and by Matthew Mercer in the English version.
History
Born on April 2, 1863, Joker met the other first-tier circus members in an alley of the East End, which he calls "a gutter where every dirty being emptied its bowels" and where "everyone in this gutter was thrown away." They had no hope of getting work, and were not even skilled thieves. He had a mother, a prostitute named Karen Taylor, but she abandoned him for an obscure reason. He implies that he was born with his right arm, but has lost it at some unknown point.
One day, while sitting under a tarp in the rain, Baron Kelvin found them and took them in. Joker called living at the manor "heaven." After some time, they decided to start a circus, and Joker assigned them stage names; it is understood that Joker is a stage name—however, not even the Grim Reapers have a record of his birth name.
Sometime later, Joker tried to help Kelvin with his obsession with Ciel Phantomhive, such as when he relayed information of Ciel's assumed death and when he prevented Kelvin from attending Ciel's sacrifice.
Noah's Ark Circus Arc
Joker in the Anime.
Joker, along with the other members of the Noah's Ark Circus, parades the streets of London, in order to uplift the spirits of people and garner attention for their circus group.
At a circus show that Ciel Phantomhive and Sebastian Michaelis attend, Joker represents himself as the ringleader. He runs the show, introducing the acts, and during Beast's act, he invites Sebastian down to participate. Sebastian soon gets bitten by the tiger, and both Joker and Beast are appalled. After the show, Joker hunts Sebastian down, and insists on taking him to the first-aid tent to have his wound checked out.
When Beast entered the tent to have her prosthetic leg examined by Doctor, Sebastian takes an interest in her limb and grabs it to look at it more closely; this upsets Beast and Dagger, who attack him with whips and knives. However, when Sebastian is able to evade all of the attacks, Joker intervenes and states that he would like to scout him. Sebastian accepts the offer, and the next day, he returns with Ciel to take the entrance exam. When Ciel eventually passed, Joker gives them stage names, takes them both on a tour of the tents and leaves them in the practice tent. At the end of the day, he assigns tent mates, pairing Ciel with Freckles and Sebastian with Suit.
The following evening, they have another performance, and Ciel and Sebastian seize the opportunity to look through the first-tier members' tents. However, Joker stops them, because Wendy hurt her ankle, and he needs Sebastian to stand in for her. Ciel develops an alternate plan and is able to look through all of the first-tier members' tents during the performance, including Joker's, where he finds a piece of paper with his name and a brief history. Joker, along with Jumbo and Peter, learns from Snake of their invasion into their tents, and Joker decides to go see Father about what to do. While leaving, he runs into Beast, who asks him to run away with her, but he says it is impossible. Joker then gives her his scarf and tells her to go to bed.
Joker arrives at Baron Kelvin's mansion and gets ready to see him. Kelvin is disappointed to learn that Joker does not have Ciel with him, and Joker announces they seem to have been marked by the Scotland Yard. When he elaborated, Kelvin is excited, because he is certain that Smile and Black are actually Ciel and his butler. Kelvin orders him to prepare a feast for their expected visit, but Joker is worried about the other first-tier members. Angry with his disobedience, Baron implies a threat to his brothers and sisters still at the workhouse, and Joker is forced to comply to his desires.
That evening, Joker welcomes Ciel and Sebastian into Kelvin's manor and introduces them to Kelvin. While eating dinner, Baron commands him to put on a circus performance for Ciel, which involves using the untrained, kidnapped children as the performers. Because they are inexperienced, their acts result in their gruesome deaths, which noticeably disturbs Joker. When Ciel expressed his disgust, Kelvin constrains Joker to clean it up. Ciel approaches Kelvin with a gun, and Joker is stopped by Sebastian. Kelvin orders Joker to put away his sword, and Joker remains in the custody of Sebastian.
They are then led to the basement by Kelvin, who reveals that he has turned the basement into a recreation of the day Ciel was sacrificed. Upset by his story, Ciel shoots him, and Joker tries to escape Sebastian by pulling a hidden knife out of his prosthetic arm. However, Sebastian cuts off part of his left arm and forbids him from disturbing his master. Joker pleads with Ciel for Kelvin's life, and discloses that the reason he acts at his bidding is because he needs Baron's help in order for them to survive. Ciel says he understands, but that is not going to stop him from "stealing his future." Joker proclaims that the other first-tier circus members are visiting his manor that night, to silence all the witnesses, and hence stealing something precious from Ciel. Ciel is unconcerned, because his servants are his private army, and Joker quietly wishes for at least the first-tier members to survive. He laments his past, which has led to this tragedy, and Ciel tells him not to cry so shamefully as the world is not kind to anyone.
Doctor then enters the basement and demonstrates that he can walk, much to Joker's surprise. He also reveals that the prosthetic limbs Joker, Dagger, and Beast wear were made from the bones of children. Joker was unaware of this, and is disgusted, questioning what Doctor saw them as. Later, after Ciel and Sebastian killed Doctor and Kelvin and set the mansion on fire, William T. Spears states that Joker died of blood loss on February 9, 1889.
Appearance
Joker is a twenty-five-year-old man who has purple eyes and long red hair bleached at the tips. He frequently wears blue make-up, which he uses to paint a tear drop under his left eye, and has four thick hoop earrings on each ear.
His outfit is comprised of a yellow bow, a purple cape trimmed with gold, a black and white checkered shirt, long black shorts with diamonds on the seam, and black and white boots that reach to the knees and curl at the toes; he also dons a white glove on his left hand. Additionally, his right arm is missing, and is replaced by a skeleton arm prosthetic.
Personality
Unlike many evil clowns, Joker of the Noah Ark Circus is not Pure Evil. He has standards of being a person, as he was shocked to find that Doctor killed children to make prosthetics. He is a kind, easy-going, and cheerful individual, who strives for the mirth of others, as shown when he intentionally drops balls he was juggling on his head for the amusement of the audience.
Joker displays great care for the other members of the circus, but puts pleasing Baron Kelvin, no matter how abhorrent he finds his requests to be, above them.
Quotes
- (To Ciel Phantomhive) "Well, they say don't judge a book by it's cover; you're a good example. That such a little body lives under stage names such as 'The Watchdog of the Queen' and 'The Evil Nobleman.' That's some hardship, Smile."
- (To Ciel Phantomhive, regarding Baron Kelvin) "Please don't kill him! Despite what he is, he saved us! We were abandoned by our parents and our country. He saved us from the fear of starvation. Many brothers and sisters of ours are still at the Workhouse. If he dies, we can't live on."
- (To Ciel Phantomhive) "Do you know why we have never been caught while kidnapping all those children? It's because every witness has been killed. We circus members are professionals. We eliminate anyone who crosses our path while on a mission, no matter who or what."
- "I wonder... what we should have done. Like the nursery rhyme, we were 'capable of playing only one song.' But if... if we had been born in another country... our selves... our bodies... wouldn't have been like this."